Under the Moon's Eye
by Amrun
Summary: By the time they wake up from the dreams induced by the Infinite Tsukuyomi, it's all over. The world is saved, or so they'd like to say. In the wake of the war, every day is as uncertain as the night before the confrontation. Some wake, while the civilians dream on, leaving the ninja to fend for themselves without their support network. Every day is still a fight. Co-author LolaLot
1. Prologue: A Game of Cards

**Under the Moon's Eye**

**Prologue**

**A Game of Cards**

**...  
**

"Sakura."

"Kakashi."

The names were breathed out effortlessly, rolled off their lips in quick pants. The air was thick on their skin, only adding to the heat that already caused a thin sheen of sweat to coat their naked bodies. Moans filled the room, the tones and rhythm of them alternating smoothly between desperate and restless, muted and strained. Just like their voices deepened and intensified with every thrust of his hips, the tension in their cores tightened, not allowing them a moment's freedom from their bodies' incessant demands.

Red and black eyes locked with emerald eyes, the same way emerald eyes captured red and black eyes.

The same way he thrust into her, she rolled her hips into his, trapping him in her warmth.

Ravenous, his lips latched onto hers, tasting their sweetness with unabashed greed. Fuller, pinker lips responded just as insistent, pressing too hard in a characteristic lack of patience and control. Just as selfish, they imposed her own pace.

"Hold me tighter," she blatantly ordered.

"Don't rip my hair out," he chuckled.

Her head rolled back, her lips parted in a silent whimper when he obeyed her command.

His mismatched eyes visibly clouded, never leaving the green color that had them hypnotised.

The image shifted out of focus, rendering the couple to nothing but a blur.

"No, not yet."

The feel of their constricted throats groaning in joint pleasure shifted back into view once more, returning the entangled bodies to the forefront.

Darkness veiled the scene quietly, slowly muting the sounds.

"No."

The sounds of their voice still echoed in the background, demanding nothing short of the most complete attention.

Nonetheless, Kakashi's eyes opened to a wasteland, perfectly in time with Sakura's eyes that saw nothing but corpses.

Never missing a beat, their gazes met again, locked together as the truth dawned on them.

The Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Sakura and Kakashi lunged forward, not allowing themselves to spare each other another glance before they met at the edge of a gorge that had appeared during their captivity.

"I don't see them," Sakura breathed out, standing straight at Kakashi's side among the silent chaos that was the battlefield.

Kakashi's lack of words only exacerbated the absurdity that laid ahead.

Hundreds upon hundreds of mangled corpses covered the ground, littered with cocoons that contained the zombies that Madara's insanity had created. Not one body remained standing in sight. The lack of a single sound was maddening. Sakura's every limb trembled, incoherent and furious protests at the situation's revolting result burning in the back of her throat. Kakashi's mind remained a blank, in blatant refusal to believe the image his brain forced on him.

With the strength of character only ninja could bring themselves to exert, they snapped out of their trance and glanced at each other, nodding before they leapt across the gap and ran to their respective targets.

While Sakura scouted the east side, Kakashi sprinted through the west side.

It wasn't long before Kakashi skidded to a stop near Sasuke's battered body. Kakashi's hand reached for Sasuke's throat without even taking a look at the boy, with the impatience only perfect panic and denial could strike in a person.

"Sakura!"

Immediately, Sakura turned and bolted towards the direction his harsh cry had come from.

"Kakashi!"

It was barely a few seconds before she, too, dropped to her knees at the Uchiha's side. Only for an instant, Kakashi and Sakura's eyes met, before her palms glowed green and searched their friend's unconscious body. When Sasuke's internal injury was located, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was nothing serious, as he proved by coughing and hurrying to sit up.

"Sasuke!" Sakura whispered, frozen in anguish.

"Is it over?" Kakashi questioned, eyes locked with the Uchiha's.

Sasuke's silent nod released the iron grip on Sakura and Kakashi's hearts, causing them to plop down where they knelt in exhaustion.

While the duo relished in their new found relief, Sasuke stood and scanned the idea, hands balling into fists at his sides.

After throwing a glance at their companion, Sakura and Kakashi's eyes met in a hurry, wide and quivering, the same horrid scene playing in their minds.

"No." Sakura shook her head. "No."

When Sakura's body sprang up, Kakashi's followed fluidly, repeating her steps until he was ahead of her.

They both knew - as soon as Kakashi's sprint had slowed to a sluggish and heavy pace, before he caught Sakura in his arms and trapped her there, keeping her from throwing herself at him.

Solemn, Sasuke walked past them, his own feet leaden regardless of the emptiness in his dark eyes.

Quietly, he knelt by his friend and remained silent.

Sakura's knees buckled and her weight collapsed in her sensei's arms. As desperate and broken, his grip on her flak jacket tightened, trembled.

"No," Sakura cried brokenly.

Sasuke brushed his palm over his friend's eyes, closing them for the last time so he could finally rest.

"No!" Sakura shouted in Kakashi's chest, fighting his hold on her body. "No!"

_Not him. Please, not him._

* * *

**Author's Note:** This is a JOINT project between me and KakaSaku author LolaLot! We simply decided to post it on this account ff because doesn't have a co-author option. This story does, quite obviously, contain nearly-current manga spoilers (677). We're having a blast, so I hope you stick with us! This prologue is only a little teaser. It shouldn't interfere with our other projects, especially _Playing the Game_. I seem to work at my own pace on that regardless of whatever else I do - but a new chapter is out now, so check it out if you follow it. LolaLot's _Behind the Porcelain Mask _is recently updated as well.

We noticed a distinct lack of current KakaSaku stories up on the new canon content, so, here's our solution. Hope you enjoy.


	2. Chapter 1: Tomorrow

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! So the fun really starts here. Hopefully, you guys will like where we're headed with this! Can't wait to hear your thoughts! 

* * *

The air outside was heavy with the stench of fear and the unwashed bodies of the travel-weary Third Division. If Kakashi stood still long enough to feel the breeze, he could taste the anticipation on his tongue – coppery, coagulated with dread, like old blood. It was the night before the big battle in this war, the second war of Kakashi's lifetime and likely to be the last, one way or another. Kakashi knew that soon, the tension would pop like a bubble and the scent in the wind would change to spilled viscera, emptied bowels, and the fury of battle. It was a sweeter taste than one might think, something Kakashi preferred not to think about.

But here, inside his spacious commander's tent where he was almost settled down for the night, there was no breeze. The only smell was Sakura and the lingering remnants of slightly-stagnant river water. Even out here, on the field of contention, she managed to be a little bit fresher than everyone else, just slightly more bright eyed.

_Come watch my back,_ she'd said this morning before the sun rose, when the vast encampment was only beginning to stir. _I found a clean pool_.

She'd led him to a bend in the river, hidden from view by a copse of trees and just far enough away that he almost scolded her for wandering so far without him or _someone_ along for safety. The protest died in his throat when Sakura, unabashed, shed her clothes – flak jacket, pants, the uniform of war that looked so foreign on her – and waded in without pause. Once submerged, she'd turned and faced him with expectation.

_You stink, Kaka-sensei,_ she'd said with a laugh and a twinkle in her eye.

He followed her in, and now they would face the next day clean, grime washed away unlike the sins he knew were coming.

Now, in the tent, away from tomorrow and the coppery anticipation, she smiled at him again over the top of her playing cards.

"No sixes, eh?"

Kakashi glanced down. A two of clubs, a seven of spades – a quick scan over the others, but no sixes.

"Go fish," Kakashi said, smiling back at her.

* * *

"Any more luck, Kakashi-san?" Shizune's beleaguered voice broke Kakashi from his reverie.

Kakashi let go of the cocoon he had finished slashing through ages ago. Inside of it was a Lightning ninja he didn't recognize, still alive in some marginal way, staring up at where the moon had been with a rapt expression.

"More of these. More corpses too," Kakashi said.

The frown lines dug deeper into Shizune's face, barely visible behind the layer of filth that coated them all.

"No wakers? None at all?"

"They're starting to die now, even those without any visible wounds. Dehydration?" Kakashi shrugged. "You'd know better than me."

"It's been almost twenty hours since we last found a waker," Shizune said, disregarding what he had said, though from the tilt of her gaze and the fidgeting of bony fingers, Kakashi knew she heard him.

"It's time, then."

Shizune didn't meet his gaze. "It seems so..."

"I'll tell her."

Shizune opened another cocoon, allergic to idleness in times like this as was every medic he knew. The smell that poured out – sickly and cloying, it reminded him of fruit rotting in the sun – told Kakashi what was inside before he looked.

Shizune continued the conversation, not commenting on the contents of the cocoon. "Are you – well, she's very –"

"I'm sure," Kakashi said as he sawed at a new cocoon.

His kunai was dull by now and struggling to make an opening in the strange fabric-like material. There were no new blades to replace it, unless – Kakashi turned and fished in the pockets of the mortifying corpse Shizune had unveiled. He was rewarded with a few fresh shuriken.

Kakashi was so focused on the routine that he barely registered more than the familiar smell when the cocoon finally opened. The frame was too large to be Ino, but still, Kakashi gave a cursory check anyway. He started to turn away, relieved that even through the bloated flesh it was obviously a man. A full second later, Kakashi's mind caught up with him and registered a flash of telltale green.

With trembling hands, Kakashi cut upwards towards the face. Lee had grown so much in recent years that it was hard to say which one it was – but the high cheekbones, the prominent nose confirmed it.

Shizune was somehow right next to him, her hand over her mouth and fresh tears welling in her eyes. "Oh, Gai. How horrible."

She began to shake, turning away so Kakashi would not see her cry. It was almost a custom, now, to just pretend it wasn't happening – so Kakashi assumed the commonly accepted, polite reaction of quietly waiting it out.

"I'm sorry," Shizune said afterwards, taking a slight departure from custom. "It's just – to see Naruto-kun's work undone in such a way..."

The mention of his name made Kakashi's stomach roll with the uncomfortable sensation that he might have retched if there was anything in his belly to unsettle.

"Let's go back," he said instead.

Shizune followed him wordlessly back to camp, which was bursting with activity, strangely at odds with the masses of apparently-sleeping ninja sprawled everywhere. Kakashi thought he understood war, but this one was the opposite of everything he knew. The quiet he expected in the aftermath, but it had come in the before-time, in a tent and a river – beyond them all now. Civilians dead, ninja alive... Everything was flipped on its head.

They had barely been back in camp five minutes before Sakura found them, shoving half of a mealy, too-soft apple into each of their hands. Likely, it was the greater portion of Sakura's rations, but Kakashi didn't have the energy to argue with her right now and so made a show of biting into it.

She ignored his gesture, placid eyes glued to him in a way he understood all too well. When he said nothing, her face fell.

"I want to go ranging tomorrow," Sakura said, steeling herself. "Shizune can take my duties here."

Kakashi took another bite of his apple and forced himself not to look away as realization crept into her features.

"No. No! We found Chouji _yesterday_! We could find more tomorrow. We could –"

"Sakura, haven't you talked this over with Tsunade-sama enough?" Shizune's sigh was tired; the argument was not fresh. "We're almost out of provisions."

The set of Sakura's jaw was a stubborn one, but Kakashi disregarded that. He finished his quarter of the apple and handed the other part to her. She held it in limp hands and turned to him, waiting.

"Gai's dead."

The news shocked the fight right out of her with a sharp inhalation of breath. "Dead, or –?"

"Dead."

Her fingers tightened minutely on the mushy piece of apple.

"Haven't you had enough by now?" Kakashi said.

Sakura said nothing at first, but he could see her relenting, and knew it was for his sake. She tucked the apple back into his palm.

"All right. I'll begin the preparations."

Just as quickly as she appeared, Sakura spirited away, busy with the lion's share of the administration duties that had fallen on her shoulders.

Shizune mentioned Tsunade-sama and fled just as quickly.

Kakashi turned slowly to Sasuke, who was leaning against the door of the ramshackle lean-to he occupied with the remnants of Team Taka.

"So we're leaving then."

"Tomorrow," Kakashi said. "Be ready."

"We'll just pack up all our things then," Suigetsu quipped from behind Sasuke, lounging on the dirt corner he had chosen as a bed, juggling kunai. "Only I'm worried about our fine china. Know of a good shipping company?"

"Shut up," Sasuke said, though his dark but cloudy eyes were still trained on Kakashi. "You shouldn't have promised her you would find Ino."

Kakashi scowled. "I didn't. I said I'd look."

"If you say so," Sasuke said with a shrug, letting the implication hang in the air.

Kakashi tamped down latent bitterness, the importance of which had faded long ago. "You intend to come home, then."

"Will there be a home to come to?"

Kakashi clenched his jaw to stop himself from snapping.

"Yes," Sasuke said quietly. "Yes, if they'll have me. And Juugo and Suigetsu."

"Karin?" Kakashi's fists loosened at his side. She had been missing last he knew.

Sasuke shook his head. Suigetsu nicked himself with one of the kunai and swore loudly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kakashi said. "You'll be welcome in Konoha, such as it is, as long as I have anything to say about it."

"Do you?" Sasuke's crossed arms tightened. "Have anything to say about it?"

Kakashi stared at his former student, but without any meaningful answer for him, turned away. When he was almost out of earshot, Kakashi heard Suigetsu complain.

"Why are you so weird with that guy? Who was he again?"

Kakashi didn't linger to hear Sasuke's reply.

* * *

The meeting shouldn't have bored Kakashi, but it did. He should have cared about provisions negotiations and any number of other things that fell under the umbrella of his duty as division commander even though the division itself had become redundant. Splitting up and heading for their respective homes was not as easy as it sounded.

Kakashi was surprised at the spirited argument that broke out about leaving the others behind – for that's what they were called, the "others" or the "sleepers" to distinguish them from the living and the dead, of which they were neither.

As far as Kakashi and Tsunade were concerned, the decision was simple, so Konoha's corner was rather quiet. But then, perhaps they had already exhausted their reasoning on Sakura. Sakura's quiet eyes had come much closer to swaying Kakashi than the Tsuchikage's strident tirade about the value of humanity. And Sakura had never argued that they should carry the others home, only that they should stay until all the sleepers became wakers, refusing to accept the reality she did not want to contemplate.

The other Kage and commanders seemed to come to a tacit agreement that the Tsuchikage's plan was absurd, and finally, it seemed, the debate was at an end.

"Tsuchikage, you and all your Rock nin are free to do what you like with the sleepers of your nation. You have the Alliance's full support, but we expect you to support our decisions as well," Gaara said, sounding weary. "I do not feel that my Suna nin are equipped to successfully transport any sleepers. Even the injured wakers will be a struggle."

The Tsuchikage scowled, though Kakashi could hardly tell the difference from his usual crags, but sat down.

Gaara straightened, adjusting his gourd. "Only one matter remains to be settled: that of Uchiha Sasuke."

"I will not forget his crimes so easily," the Raikage said, expression stony. "I expect a trial and swift punishment, preferably execution."

"Execution?" Tsunade snapped, perking up, wearing all her wrinkles as she had for quite some time now. "We'd all be dead if not for Uchiha Sasuke."

"Would we?" Ai growled. "Would there have been a war at all?"

Tsunade snorted indignantly. "That boy was nothing more than a fly in a trap. Don't be so quick to –"

"My brother –" Ai roared, slamming his fist on the table.

"Died to the Infinite Tsukuyomi," Kakashi said quietly. "That wasn't Sasuke's fault."

"You believe him, then?" Ai said, face thunderous. "Just like every other doujutsu user, he hasn't yet managed progress on even one sleeper."

"Neither have the Hyuuga," Hyuuga Hiashi shot back, bristling at Kakashi's side. "Are we liars as well?"

"Were the Hyuuga also the last ones to see Uzumaki Naruto alive?"

Kakashi closed his eyes against the Raikage's words that cut like shuriken. No one else spoke either, the silence as thick as a shroud.

"By all accounts, Uchiha's eyes are damaged," the Tsuchikage said carefully. "Perhaps that's why he cannot wake any sleepers."

"His visual acuity is severely impaired," Tsunade said coldly.

"What does that matter when he has the Rinnegan?" Despite his words, Ai was losing steam.

Tsunade didn't flinch. "Rinnegan that if he activates again will likely permanently blind him and has no guarantee of waking anyone?"

"Let Konoha handle its own," Gaara said.

"Uchiha Sasuke is beyond the scope of Konoha," Ai said, newly incensed. "When did he even take that cloak off? How long ago was that? And you expect us to –"

"Do you doubt Naruto?" Kakashi said, and Ai faltered. "Is this how you honor his memory? By failing to honor his request to you? Have you forgotten?"

Ai stilled. "Of course I don't doubt Naruto. I haven't forgotten what he asked me in Iron Country."

After a moment, Gaara said, "Sasuke falls under the jurisdiction of Konohagakure alone. Any objections?"

Ai shook his head first and the rest of those at the table followed.

"It's settled, then. We must return to our respective villages to assess. If..." Gaara paused. "If any of us find the situation there ... untenable, then I think we should regroup in Konoha. It has the most fertile land and a central location."

"Rock has more arable land," the Tsuchikage argued.

Choujiro, Mist's current representative hastily chosen after discovering Terumi Mei's body, spoke for once. "You expect my Mist nin to get over your border mountains? How? We make boats."

The Tsuchikage frowned. "The border mountains do present an issue for those unfamiliar with them..."

"This is only in the worst case scenario," Gaara assured, and all the meeting attendees nodded in turn. "Well then, I hereby dissolve the Divisions. May you all set out according to your wishes and needs."

"Konoha leaves tomorrow," Tsunade announced, standing up much more slowly than she used to. "It's time for us to go home."

Kakashi followed his Hokage and Hyuuga Hiashi out of the door, unsurprised to see Sakura and Shizune hovering on the other side.

"Do you have to pee or something, Sakura?" snapped Tsunade. "Stop hopping about. I told you Sasuke would be fine."

"Yes, Shishou," Sakura said, but her relief was visible. "Sorry, Shishou."

"Don't you two have work to be getting on with?" Tsunade said, but her eyes were soft, nestled into an unfamiliar sunken face, as she looked at Sakura.

"Let me apprise you of the situation, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said, and stepped into place next to the Hokage and Hiashi.

They walked off, leaving Sakura with Kakashi.

"Is he really coming home with us?" she whispered.

"Looks like it," Kakashi said, and immediately regretted it. What if it failed to work out as they planned, as it so often did?

But Sakura smiled, weak though it was. "He would be so happy."

They both knew she didn't mean Sasuke. She couldn't say anything else, and looked away.

Kakashi reached out a hesitant hand and laid it heavily upon her shoulder.

"Sakura, stop dilly dallying," Tsunade called from a distance.

Sakura met his gaze again and gently broke free of his grip. "I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Tomorrow."

He watched her walk away, feeling for all the world as if he should run after her. Tomorrow – any tomorrow, every tomorrow – was just as uncertain now as it was the last time they played cards and pretended it wasn't.

* * *

"Konohamaru, will you stop jostling poor Taka-san like that? He's in enough pain as it is," Sakura snapped, hair mussed, carrying the hind end of two different stretchers, one in each hand.

Konohamaru shot her a glare, muttering under his breath as he supported the other end of the left stretcher. Udon, holding the stretcher on the right, coughed, a deep, hacking rattle. Konohamaru rushed to grab onto the stretcher Udon was dropping, struggling and failing to steady both. The patient on the right tumbled to the ground, landing with a dull _thud_ and a pained moan.

"Taka-san, I'm so sorry!" Sakura carefully rested the other stretcher on the ground and rushed to the man's side, the turned steely eyes on Konohamaru. "Get a grip, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru's jaw dropped in indignation. "So sorry I'm not a freak of nature like you!"

"It's really my fault, Taka-san," Udon wheezed, still clutching his chest. "I apologize."

"Udon-kun, I'm sorry too," Sakura said gently. "I'm afraid I've worked you too hard. Why don't you and Konohamaru take a break to round up some more helpers, hmm?"

"Great, thanks," Konohamaru said stiffly and yanked Udon away.

Kakashi watched, leaning against a tree, as Sakura fussed over and re-situated the man she'd called Taka-san.

"A little harried, are we?"

"Thanks for helping out there, Kakashi-sensei. Great timing," she said with a scowl. "Seeing as you're so busy and all."

Kakashi uncrossed his arms. "Rushing won't get us home any faster, you know."

"First you want us to leave but now you're in no hurry? Sounds like you."

"I'm more curious as to why you _are_ in a hurry."

Her hands paused where they were re-tying a bandage. "You were right. I have had enough. Enough death. Most of all, enough waiting."

Kakashi didn't ask her to explain; he understood. "Well, let's go then," he said, gripping both stretchers like he had seen her do.

Face relaxing in relief, she got into position and led him purposefully. He didn't pay attention to the specifics of medical traffic, so he merely followed and tried to keep the stretchers steady. Sakura made it look easy, but in actuality it was quite difficult, especially as stooped as he was to account for their differences in height. Poor Taka-san was jostled more than Konohamaru had done, but Sakura made no comment.

"Visit with Yamato-taichou, will you? I haven't had much time for him today, and with what happened..." She trailed off, and Kakashi could see her eyes looking up and to the left, her mind already on her next task, so he just walked away.

Kakashi made his way to the section of medical tents designated for the walking wounded and straight to the fourth floor space on the left, one he was familiar with. Kakashi sat cross legged in front of his old friend.

"How's my little kohai today? I heard you needed a babysitter."

Yamato blushed. "She worries too much. I'm alive. I'm not stupid enough to be ungrateful for that."

Still, Kakashi did his best to avoid looking at the bloody, bandaged stump that used to be Yamato's left arm, the one that made the water seals necessary to use his wood release.

"I told her earth chakra has always been your favorite anyway, but you know, women and their hormones..." Kakashi waved a dismissive hand.

Yamato smiled weakly. "It's nice to be worried about, I think."

Kakashi did not respond, but he wasn't arguing. "Here," he said instead, handing Yamato the dog-eared Icha Icha from his pocket. "If you were a leftie, it'll be a whole new experience."

Yamato choked, dropping the book into his lap, cheeks blazing. "I couldn't possibly... It's the only one you –"

Kakashi cut him off. "I have more at home. And that's where we're going."

"Yeah," Yamato said, a far-off look in his eye. "Home. It'll be nice, won't it?"

"Can't imagine anything nicer just now."

The silence descended with a heaviness, the doubt unspoken and stretching between them the way it always did with everyone these days. It wasn't a coincidence that, despite it being on the tip of everyone's tongues, almost no one ever said the name: Konoha.

"Well, I probably have some duties I'm avoiding right about now."

Yamato tried to summon a smile. "Time to be fashionably late, is it?"

"Naturally."

"See you around, then."

"See you."

Kakashi stood and dusted himself off, turning away from the bloody stump it was difficult not to stare at. Yamato wanted to pretend it wasn't a big deal, but it was so hard to ignore, so hard to remain cheerful in the face of everything, most of all that stump.

Kakashi stepped outside and stood in line for the water pump. It took him a few seconds to recognize he was behind Udon and Konohamaru.

"'Oh, Udon-kun, I'm so sorry,'" Konohamaru was saying in a high, breathy voice, fluttering his eyelashes at Udon. "'Oh, Udon-kun, please let me suck your dick.'"

Udon let loose a small, nervous laugh, a raspy chuckle that caught in his throat. "I-I think it's your dick she wants," he said, blushing furiously.

"No way," Konohamaru said with a shake of his head, but a smirk on his face. "Besides, Naruto-nii-sama always said she was in love with Sasuke."

Kakashi couldn't decide what caught him more off guard: that they were talking about Sakura in that way – though he remembered being a teenage boy himself –or "Naruto-nii-sama." Kakashi would have pegged Konohamaru as the last one to join in the new trend of adding "sama" to Naruto's name. It seemed to be spreading like wildfire. Naruto was already a legend, larger than life, too good for the world, beyond mere mortals. That's how people were rationalizing it, anyway. To Kakashi, Naruto's absence was simply blank. Nothing was just right, without him. Not anymore.

Suddenly, there was a whiff of unnatural breeze that prickled the back of Kakashi's neck. Someone had just run by at top speed, and a strange smell was in the air, something heightened, something new. Kakashi abandoned the water line and took off in the direction of the runner to where a small crowd had gathered.

"A new waker?" he heard someone mutter to his friend. "Will we still leave?"

Kakashi pushed through and the crowd parted for him with no protest, a few respectful nods coming his way. When he finally spotted what the commotion was about, his heart caught in his throat.

Sakura had her arms around a horrifyingly skinny Sai, hanging on for dear life. A filthy looking mutt that Kakashi took a second to place as Akamaru, Kiba's ninken, was prancing around their feet.

"You stupid, stupid, man. Stupid, stupid, stupid, silly man," Sakura was saying over and over again, eyes clenched shut, tears leaking out the corners. "How could you worry me like that?"

"I'm sorry?" Sai hazarded a guess, thin black brows raised in confusion.

Sakura started to laugh through her tears and stood on her tiptoes to plant a chaste kiss on Sai's cheek. "Never apologize for coming home. Haven't we taught you that by now?"

Kakashi stepped forward as Sakura finally released Sai. "Good morning."

Sai paused, looking up at the sky. "When we get to Konoha, I'm going to paint the sun."

Sakura finished wiping her cheeks and grabbed Sai's bony forearm. "Come on. I've got to assess your health so we can determine your travel status."

She led him away and Kakashi followed, tuning out Sakura's mile-a-minute chatter and Akamaru's excited yips.

"We haven't found any civilians yet. They seem to lack the capability that we have to break out of the jutsu –"

"That some of us have," Sai corrected softly, and Sakura almost stumbled.

"Right," she said shakily. "Right…"

"Sakura," Kakashi said, taking the distant look out of her eyes. "Afterwards, bring him to Tsunade-sama."

"Yes, sir." She understood an order when she heard one. "Come on, then, Sai. It seems we're in a hurry. But maybe we can still find time to stop by and see Yamato-taichou. He'll be so pleased to see you."

As Sakura and Sai continued on, Kakashi motioned to Akamaru. The dog obediently sat in front of him, panting.

Kakashi scratched him behind the ears. "Well, aren't you interesting…"

* * *

Tenten, tangled hair spilling from once-careful buns and brown eyes ablaze, had the telltale twitchy hands of a ninja wishing for her weapons. Still, Hyuuga Ko blocked her from entering the room.

"I'm afraid you are not authorized to meet with Tsunade-sama at this time –"

"Let her in," Hinata said softly. "It's Tenten."

Without word, Ko stood aside and Tenten spared him barely a glance as she was admitted to what had become the inner sanctum of this far-away base. She breezed right past Kakashi and her eyes flickered to Akamaru, where Sakura was petting him and whispering softly as he devoured some sort of food – stale bread soaked in water, it looked like, but food nonetheless.

"I heard Kiba's dead," Tenten said without any preamble, her face hard, thin lips a slash in a pale face, so unlike the bright smile she once sported. "But Akamaru found Sai."

Hinata choked, swaying on her feet. Shino put a steadying hand on her bicep, and though he looked as calm as ever, his kikaichu were buzzing angrily.

Tenten didn't react. "Do we know? Do we know for sure, about Kiba?"

Sai cleared his throat. "Akamaru brought me to him."

Only the clench of Tenten's jaw showed she had heard him. "Then he should have brought you to Lee as well. Tell me."

The silence, the quick glances between members of the room, did not satisfy her.

"I've been searching all day – every day. There are too many, but with Akamaru's nose, if he recognized _you_, then he should have –"

"I did not authorize any ranging today," Tsunade said from her central place at the table, her voice ringing out like a bell.

Tenten, who used to be so obedient, ever admiring of the first female Hokage, did not even flinch. "I don't care. Let me take Akamaru out to look for him."

The furrow between Tsunade's greyed brows belied her irritation, but she did not comment. "We leave in twenty minutes. The final preparations are being made as we speak."

"Then let me stay behind with Akamaru. I can fend for myself. I'll find him, I know I will –"

"Akamaru now belongs with Inuzuka Hana, and I need all my ninja with me." Tsunade's gaze met Tenten's head on, challenging her.

Tenten stared back, fury written in her posture and her clenched fists.

Shikamaru dislodged himself from leaning against the wall, uncommonly rigid. "He didn't find Ino either."

Sakura's hand paused mid-stroke and she clasped the fur on Akamaru's back too tight, but he didn't whimper.

Finally, Tenten relented, dropping her eyes to the floor. After a long, shaky inhalation, she turned and fled, shoving Hyuuga Ko to the side.

No one said anything, at first. Then Sakura resumed her whispering, and in the new quiet, Kakashi could just make it out.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…"

"No one has said…" Sai said. "No one has said anything. But I have to know."

Sakura ceased her whispering again and buried her face into Akamaru's neck.

Sai didn't miss that, but he spoke anyway. "Where is Naruto?"

* * *

Kakashi wiped the sweat from his brow, sure he was smearing more dirt across it – not that anyone would be able to notice. His hair was hanging down over his forehead protector, limp with exertion, and he pushed it away in annoyance. Still, he was unused to wearing his forehead protector straight, like others did. The complete peripheral vision was nice, but even though he was more complete, technically, the ache of physical loss gnawed at him.

_Like a missing limb,_ he thought, and then discarded the idea quickly, ashamed.

"I think it's deep enough," Inuzuka Hana said wryly, and Kakashi almost jumped at the sound of her voice.

He stopped digging and stepped out of the grave. Hana was right, so Kakashi tipped the next victim of the road into the hole he had dug. It was a woman he did not recognize – gaunt, now, but still bearing the traces of the once-beautiful girl she had been – but Kakashi couldn't think about it any longer. She wasn't the first to be buried on the long trek home. He dumped a shovelful of dirt onto her pretty face.

Hana was squatting over own victim, rolling him with heavy _thump_ into the grave she dug.

"Poor Taka," she said listlessly. "He was a good lay."

"We could have traded," Kakashi said. "If you knew him."

She shook her head, long ponytail swinging. "I'd rather do it myself. I buried my mother, too. I wish they'd let me bury Kiba."

Akamaru whined, resting his head on his paws. Kakashi eyed the dog, wondering just how much he understood.

"I was curious if that's why you picked me for this," Hana said. "I thought you'd understand ninken better than most, though."

"I do," Kakashi said. "But summoned ninken aren't quite the same. You understand why it matters, don't you?"

Hana sighed. "People are anxious about their children back at home. But ninken aren't children."

"It doesn't appear that he was cocooned at all."

"Neither were the other animals. The ones eating the corpses." Hana's shovelful of dirt went a little wild, spraying a bit too far.

"Ninken aren't children, it's true, but they're not the same as other animals, either."

Hana's shovel stilled. "They're intelligent. More intelligent than many children I know. But so much of what we do is trained into them, by habit and jutsu and – No genjutsu ever worked on my ninken that I know of, though they fell in battle before the Infinite Tsukuyomi struck. I don't know if they have … imaginations. But children do, don't they?"

"Yes," Kakashi said quietly, the soft _schick schick _of the shovel repeatedly sinking into dirt filling the air. "Yes, they do."

* * *

"We're so close now I can taste it," Sakura said, but the flickering flames of the campfire didn't reveal to Kakashi what she was really thinking.

Sasuke met his eyes over the fire, but Kakashi couldn't read him, either.

"I wish I could taste something besides char," Suigetsu whined as he gnawed at a deer rib, breaking the mood. "You Konoha nin overcook everything."

"Be grateful that we are eating meat,"Juugo said. "There are some skilled hunters among us."

Suigetsu stopped sucking the marrow from the bone long enough to scoff. "And yet not a speck of flesh before now. Sixteen hundred people, all eating like little birds."

"It takes many animals to feed such a group,"Juugo said. "Think of the devastation we would wreak on a forest if we hunted all along the way…"

"Like I give a rat's ass. There's no one left to care, so why should I?"

No one answered, so Suigetsu crunched into the bone. Kakashi never knew what to say to Sasuke's new teammates, so he simply didn't. Instead, he handed his last chunk of meat to Sakura beside him.

"Don't argue. I know what you do with your rations."

She flushed, but tried to give it back anyway. "They need proper nutrition…"

"Sakura." Sasuke's voice, as always, commanded attention. "How many more will die if the medics die first?"

His tone was rebuking, and she scowled immediately. Still, Kakashi noticed, she stopped trying to return the food. When Sai returned from bringing Yamato his meal at the medical tents, she was quietly chewing the extra meat.

Sai eyed her carefully as he settled back into his place. "We'll be home soon."

Sakura smiled, half-hearted. "Yes. We will."

"What will we even _do_ there?" Suigetsu said, tossing the remains of his meal into the fire to hiss and pop. "I really don't get it. Am I supposed to just sit on my thumbs? Or do missions again? You know I killed to get out of Mist, but stinking Konoha sounds even worse –"

"Don't insult Konoha," Sakura said, voice suddenly crackling like the fire in front of them. "Don't you dare. You're lucky we've even agreed to take you in after everything you've done, _traitor_–"

Suigetsu bared his sharp teeth. "What do you know about my loyalty, little girl?"

"It's not _your_ loyalty she's questioning."

Sasuke shifted, looking discomfited for once, eyes wide seemingly at his own words.

"Don't speak for me, Sasuke. You don't know me well enough for that. Not anymore." Sakura stood and furiously brushed off the seat of her pants. "I'm going to check on my patients."

Sai followed her away wordlessly, and Kakashi was relieved. He had barely spoken with Sakura about Sasuke. There was nothing to say. They both knew what had to be done; doing it was the problem. Forgiveness was proving to be an adversary more daunting than many they'd faced in the war.

"We will do whatever is required of us,"Juugo said gently. "Because it is Sasuke's will."

Suigetsu made a face, but the words seemed to mean something to him. "Why is it always _Sasuke's_ will? What about _my_ will?"

The grumbling seemed more rote, now, though, and without much more complaining, Suigetsu settled down to sleep, pulling his sleeping bag over his head. As usual, he was snoring within seconds. Juugo followed suit, though as Kakashi was growing accustomed to, Juugo simply lay in the quiet as he would do for quite some time until he eventually drifted off to sleep.

Sasuke met Kakashi's gaze, but said nothing. The fire burned down to embers between them before Sakura and Sai returned. She was in a much better mood, laughing at something Sai said, and with a great yawn, curled up into their sleeping bag and looked at Kakashi expectantly.

Kakashi did as he did every night and slid in next to her. Otherwise, she'd shiver - _technically, _it was still winter, as she liked to point out. He turned away from her to get comfortable, the heat of her back on his lulling him to sleep. They would be home soon.

* * *

Once again, Kakashi could smell the anticipation in the air, but it was different, this time. Coppery, still, but almost humming with energy, ihe heaviness replaced with something that made people sooner to smile. Its scent mingled with the newly minted nearly-spring air and almost made Kakashi want to take off his mask so he could breathe deeply.

A shout came from up ahead and Kakashi tensed, but the rumbles that spread through the ranks were not those of danger.

"Look!" Sakura said, a rare peal of laughter ringing in the air. "Look!"

Kakashi followed her pointed finger to see the monument just barely visible on the horizon.

"Ah, she wasn't an old hag there…" Sai said in bemusement and Sakura slapped him on the arm.

"Show some respect for your Hokage," she scolded, but with no fire to it.

"What's the big deal?" Suigetsu muttered. "It's just some big statue or something."

"That," Yamato said, panting as he struggled to keep up, "is the record of our existence. It means something. If you're to be a Konoha nin now, you'll have to learn."

"Yeah, yeah," Suigetsu said dismissively, but eyed the monument a little closer all the same.

The excitement of the sighting sustained them even when the trees obscured it from view again.

Suddenly, just as they began to draw truly near, the procession halted abruptly, the buzzing whispers taking on a different tone altogether. Sakura scowled.

"What's the hold up? I'm going to find Tsunade-shishou."

Sasuke reached out and grabbed her arm before she could slip away. "Sakura."

She stilled at the sound of his voice. "No. You're wrong."

"Are you sure you want to see?"

She pulled out of his grasp and raced to the front of the procession. Kakashi went after her, heart pounding, and stopped dead right before he smacked into the back of her.

Where the village had once been, with its round red rooftops below the watchful stone eyes of the Hokage, stood nothing but a littered was simply _gone_.

"No." Sakura took one shuffling step backwards, and then another. "_No."_

She stepped back again, right into Kakashi's chest, and he could feel her trembling. He wrapped his arms around her torso to keep her steady – and immediately, she gripped his forearms so hard her jagged nails scratched at his skin. It wasn't long before she sagged, knees buckling, but Kakashi held her upright.

Sasuke quietly took his place next to them, fists clenched at his sides, jaw hardened as he stared straight ahead rigidly. "It's gone."

All around them, the scene was repeating itself, in wave after wave as people realized what it was they were looking at. Some were sobbing, but more of them were staring ahead, eyes wide and unbelieving. They almost looked like sleepers again. Maybe they wished they were.

Behind him, Kakashi could barely register when Suigetsu spoke.

"So this is what you guys were so excited about. Huh."


	3. Chapter 2: A Song for Us

Surrounded by the clatter of pointless dispute, Sakura remained quiet and ignored the buzzing in her ears as the rambling escalated to blind shouting. Glancing at Kakashi provided little indication of the course to take, so she shifted her eyes to the Hokage. Around Tsunade's table, the four Hyuuga guarding her and Shizune weren't much help either. With a sigh, Sakura looked at the six other jounin lining the wall of the tent, all so preoccupied with their own ideas about how the new Konoha should be run that they failed to realize how little they contributed to the matters at hand. Reorganizing the leftovers of the village had turned into a battle in itself.

From the corner of her eye, Sakura watched Kakashi. Since the beginning of the meeting, he hadn't said a word, only stood by her and squeezed her arm to quiet her whenever she wanted to protest a decision.

"Hyuuga Akira is well equipped to oversee the planning of the districts," one man was saying - a Hyuuga, of course. "He has overseen the organization of the Branch house since his father's passing, at such a young age, too -"

Out of the six of the other jounin besides Shizune and Kakashi, Sakura only recognized Hyuuga Hiashi. The power paradigm had shifted quite a bit; Sakura used to know well everyone who might be present at such a meeting, but no longer. Of course, so many of the faces that used to populate these meetings were now dead that change was to be expected.

"Tenzou has overseen ANBU longer than Hyuuga Akira has been alive," another man hissed.

"That's not true," Sakura said suddenly. Hyuuga Akira was at least twenty five - just how old did this man think Yamato was?

Kakashi shifted behind her, putting just enough pressure on her shoulder for Sakura's mind to catch up with her mouth. Heat spreading on her cheeks, she added, "But even so, surely longer than Hyuuga Akira has organized the Branch family, no?"

The man who had called Yamato Tenzou smiled, but Hyuuga Hiashi waved a dismissive hand. "As impressive as that is, that organization is now defunct. Organizing the structure of the Branch family is much more applicable experience, especially in recent times."

A younger Hyuuga, probably a genin or chuunin - Nobuya, if Sakura's memory served her well - fulfilled his duties by preparing his brush to add Hyuuga Akira's name to the list.

"Kakashi," Tsunade said, and though it was just a rasping whisper, it cut through the room. "What do you think?"

Sakura looked at him out of the corner of her eye; Kakashi frowned, contemplating.

"What would you say of this situation?" Tsunade pushed.

"I would say that it reeks of nepotism," Kakashi said flatly. "I would ask if any other clans were asked to recommend their branch family organizers."

Sakura stiffened underneath the suddenly loose hand resting on her shoulder. This was the type of thing he always warned her against, and here he was with his bold words and perpetually bored expression, as if it was nothing.

Tsunade was watching him keenly. "You would, would you?"

Kakashi remained silent and still, meeting the Hokage's gaze.

One of the other Hyuuga frowned. "No other clan's organizers worked on a grand enough scale -"

"Is that so."

Kakashi's feigned question cut the Hyuuga off neatly and no one dared protest. The Hyuuga looked nervously to Hiashi. The man who had argued for Tenzou - a former ANBU member, no doubt - looked hopeful.

Hiashi smiled pleasantly. "It is easy to bandy about such words, but why fail to mention your ties to this man, a relative nobody? He is one of your oldest friends, and received his position within ANBU only after you turned it down, is that not right? Nepotism indeed."

Kakashi shrugged, smiling back casually. "Think as you will."

It was this lopsided smile that alarmed Sakura. She took a tiny step back to trod lightly on Kakashi's toe, and his hand slipped down her arm in response, falling at his side.

The ex-ANBU was less composed, bristling. "A nobody? He has the blood of the First running through his veins!"

Hiashi folded his hands neatly on the table. "And how unfortunate for us all that he is no longer able to use the First's jutsu. In fact, is there any jutsu at all that remains to him? Such a waste. Truly."

Inhaling sharply, Sakura geared up to defend her captain, and even Kakashi made no move to stop her, tense behind her despite his slouching posture.

A glare from Tsunade made the words die in Sakura's throat instead.

"I will trust Tenzou with this. He has always served me well," Tsunade said, then turned to Nobuya. "He prefers to go by Yamato now. Do you know how to spell it?"

Hiashi's jaw protruded as if he was clenching his teeth but he said nothing. With the matter decided, the group moved on to decide the next position, and the next, argument once again rampant. Kakashi was quiet again, and Sakura stayed still by his side, the urge to join in completely subsided.

"Silence!" Hyuuga Ko roared above the chaos after a long while.

His command was only a repeat of Tsunade's, but her voice had grown weak along with her aged body and was much more effective.

"We have too little food left and hunting won't be enough to sustain such a large group for much longer," Tsunade said, sitting straight at her table. "Several groups will be sent out to the farms surrounding Konoha to retrieve anything they can, most of all seeds. This is our first priority."

Nobuya noted the orders down on a pad of paper.

"The other villages will be gathering here if their situation is similar," Tsunade continued, running tired fingers through her brittle hair. "We need to have a decent camp set up by then. Have the most able-bodied gather wood and cut it. Another team will be sent to Otafuku Gai to retrieve anything deemed useful. Pots, towels, clothes, anything they can carry."

At the mention of such basics items, which they had been in cruel lack of since their return to Konoha, Sakura's narrowed eyes lowered to her feet. After the Juubi's long distance chakra attack few had understood the significance of at the time, they had _nothing _left. The clothes on her back were beginning to fall apart and there wasn't even a strip of cloth to replace them.

Kakashi replacing his hand on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts. Looking up at him again, she forced a small smile and nodded. They just had to find more. It would be fine. They just needed a little more time.

"Have four more teams search the woods for any food they can forage." Weary, Tsunade observed everyone in the room, seeming relieved that no one had another word to say. "That's it. You're all dismissed."

* * *

Sakura plopped into her chair, running her palms up her face with a sigh. If it wasn't her chakra reaching her limits, then it was their supplies. With the army of wounded ninja there was to tend to, it was impossible to treat them properly. Half of them were suffering from malnutrition, which she could do nothing about.

"You look like you could use some rest."

With a start, Sakura turned around to see Yamato. "I'm sorry. I didn't think I had any more patients coming for a few minutes."

"Here," Yamato said, placing a bowl on the table in front of her.

Sakura couldn't help but grimace at the sight of more okayu. There were only a few spoonfuls of the rice gruel left, but the sight of it made her throat burn. "You should eat it, Yamato-taichou. You need all your energy to heal."

"I don't feel hungry," Yamato sighed, sitting down on the chair next to hers. "I'm sure you could use it more than I could."

"How's your wound? It's not getting infected, is it?" Sakura asked, pushing the bowl aside.

Yamato twisted on his chair to let her have a better look at his bandaged shoulder. "Shizune asked me to have it looked at again today, but she was too busy to do it herself and sent me to you."

With a nod, Sakura pulled at his bandages carefully, wincing whenever he did. The amount of blood still soaked into them was worrisome but not alarming. At the gruesome sight of his stump, her stomach churned uncomfortably. It could have been her as much as him.

"Does it still hurt a lot?" she asked rigidly, moving his shoulder a few times to examine every part of it. The wound had been burned shut from lack of an available medic. "It's not looking too terrible."

"It hurts at night mostly, but it's nothing too bad," Yamato said, avoiding her eyes.

Sakura nodded and gathered his bandages and threw them in a bag behind her chair before picking some fresh ones from another bag. Stains of blood remained on them, not having been washed out by boiling alone. Slouched forward and feeling her exhaustion in every muscle of her face, she wrapped his wound again.

They couldn't even sterilize anything.

"There's nothing more I can do for the time being," Sakura whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Yamato said, flashing her a smile that was certainly meant to be brighter than it actually was.

When he left the tent, Sakura stood up to go inspect the situation outside. It was already past lunch time and no more patients were lining up to see her. Letting her shoulders drop, she stepped back inside to grab the bowl and walked towards the center of their camp, where lunch was being served.

Since she was so late, the line wasn't very long. Chouji was serving today, it seemed.

"Did Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke get their rations already?" she asked, handing him Yamato's bowl. "Yamato gave me his leftovers, but… I'm sure you'll be more grateful for it."

There was a hesitation in Chouji's arms, but he nonetheless took the bowl from her hands, staring at it for a second. When he looked back up at her, Sakura cracked a smile, trying to ignore the guilt in his eyes. Even he had lost an astounding amount of weight and could now be classified as underweight. As any late waker, he had been heavily affected by his trance, but had had the luck of having plentiful reserves.

"Thank you, Sakura," he said, setting the bowl aside before serving her a new portion of the okayu. "I haven't seen either of them. I don't think they've come by yet."

"Give me six bowls then. I'll bring it to them before they let themselves starve," Sakura sighed, shaking her head.

Without another word, Chouji did as asked. At his side, she could see the dirty look his kitchen partner gave her, probably assuming she was hogging the food.

"You got a problem with me?" Sakura sneered, crossing her arms on her chest.

"No," he blurted out, hurrying to busy himself with washing more bowls.

Chouji handed her the six bowls on a large cutting board. "Here, you can carry it like this. Just bring it back after."

"Thanks, Chouji," Sakura said as she grabbed it and left.

Finding Sasuke turned out to be an easy task. He had remained on the outskirts of the camp, where he and Kakashi had set up their personal tents. Kakashi was still lucky enough to have a tent to himself, due to being commander, but Sasuke shared with his two companions.

As she neared their tents, Sakura couldn't see them, but she could hear Suigetsu's voice coming from a little ahead.

"Why do you want to stay here? It's just a crater!"

After being hit by one or even more of the Bijuu's balls, a crater was really all that was left of Konoha.

"Shut up. We do as I say," she heard Sasuke counter.

"You always say that," Suigetsu grumbled. "I don't get it. I wanna do as I want to. C'mon, Juugo, tell him we're doing what I want now."

Curiosity gaining on her, Sakura hid behind a tent and remained within earshot. Juugo didn't answer.

"Fine!" Suigetsu growled. "So you said that old guy was your sensei. What about that pink cutie pie? She your old flame or something?

"No," Sasuke sighed, sounding annoyed. "We were Kakashi's students, both of us."

"Three of you, you mean," Suigetsu corrected, ever so delicate.

Sasuke paused. "Yes, the three of us."

"So what? We're staying because of them?" Suigetsu asked.

"We're staying because I said we were. Stop asking questions," Sasuke said, reminding Sakura of when he became angry with her back when they were genin.

"Hey, if I'm gonna follow you around everywhere, I gotta know why!" Before he could continue, Sasuke punched him, from the sound of it. "Fuck, man! That hurt!"

"We've got company," Juugo cut in.

Realizing he was talking about her, Sakura walked towards them, acting as if she hadn't been eavesdropping. "I brought you lunch. You haven't eaten yet, right?"

Suigetsu leaned towards her, grinning. "Wouldn't mind having _you _for lunch!"

Immediately, Sasuke glared at him and punched his shoulder, confirming she had been right about the sound. "No."

Suigetsu rubbed his shoulder, which was already starting to bruise considerably, and didn't look at her again.

"Are Kakashi-sensei and Sai close by? I thought we could all eat together," Sakura suggested, looking down at the tray she held.

"I'll go get them," Juugo said quietly before he stood up and walked away.

Sasuke simply gestured at the free space on the ground besides him. Without a word, Sakura sat by him and placed the tray between Suigetsu and Sasuke.

* * *

By the time dinner rolled around, Sakura was dragging her feet through the camp. Anything would be good enough to fill her stomach this time. Even okayu. Several feet ahead of her, Sakura spotted Kakashi's wild silver hair, his head hovering above a set of cards as he played solitaire. Not moving an inch, his eye raised to meet hers, lingering for a few seconds. Without breaking their contact, Sakura walked towards him.

"Playing cards by yourself this time, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura joked, a hint of playfulness in her eyes that Kakashi's own matched.

In his hand, he was flipping the three of diamonds. The grin that spread on her lips was without a doubt painfully obvious to her favorite companion.

"Could always use a second player," Kakashi suggested, resting his cheek in his palm.

"It has been a while since we've played cards, hasn't it?" Without any resistance, he let her take the card from between his fingers. Eyeing it, she flipped it the same way he had. "I like these cards. They're pretty," she said, observing the intricate designs on the back.

"You should come tonight, once you're done treating your patients."

* * *

Once the night had fallen, Sakura left the tent she shared with Shizune and Tenten. The amount of activity still taking place around the camp surprised her somewhat, though it was good to hear the voices of everyone singing the songs of home. They were at home, regardless of its barren state, and the Will of Fire still burned strong within everyone. That one display of the strength of her people lifted her spirits considerably, and she slowed her pace to enjoy its music as she headed towards Kakashi's tent.

They _were_ home. Her, Kakashi, Sasuke… People she cared for, for whose lives she couldn't be ungrateful.

When her fingers tugged at the zipper that held Kakashi's tent closed, Sakura glanced up, feeling Sasuke's unfamiliar yet so recognizable gaze on her. He was holding open the entrance of his own tent, watching her with his natural poise.

"Good night, Sakura," he said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun," she replied before slipping in Kakashi's tent.

Inside, Kakashi was sitting on his sleeping bag, the same deck of cards on the ground in front of him.

"So you're still up to play," Kakashi joked, smiling under his mask.

"Couldn't leave you a card short, could I?" Sakura chuckled while she sat down across of him.

The dim light the flame in his lamp offered was barely enough to see the cards properly.

The way Kakashi's eyes watched her, almost challenging her with the beckoning glimmer of it, was more than enough to make her heart skip a beat, though she remained composed.

"What game are we playing?" he asked, grabbing the deck of cards and shuffling it.

"You're missing a card," Sakura reminded him, retrieving the card from her pocket.

"How much will it cost me this time?"

There was an edge to his voice that made Sakura smile and drop the last of her pretense.

"Straightforward, aren't you?" she teased, flashing him a coy smirk.

"I'm sure you expected no different when you set foot in my tent again."

Kakashi extended his hand to her. With a shy smile, Sakura took it and let him lead her closer to him until she stood on her knees at his feet.

"A three of diamonds your mask," she demanded, toying with the card.

Without a word, Kakashi lowered his mask, watching her with a hint of amusement.

When his hand reached for the card, Sakura jerked her own hand back, shaking her head. "Not so quick."

"What now?" he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin near her collarbone.

"A three of diamonds for your mask," she repeated, feeling her cheeks flush with mild embarrassment, "and your sweater."

"You going to leave with my shoes too?" Kakashi teased, nonetheless removing his oversized shirt. "That's a drastic increase in price."

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, swallowing the small amount of anxiety that rose in her chest. "A three of diamonds for your mask, your sweater, and your shirt."

"That's pushing your luck, Sakura-chan," Kakashi growled, resuming his hold on her waist with additional strength.

"Take it or leave it," Sakura said, dropping none of her bravado.

Kakashi sighed and removed his shirt, taking his sweet time to do so. "A three of diamonds for my mask, my sweater, and my shirt. What more now?" he asked, eyes locking with hers.

Even if his tone played annoyed, Sakura knew he wouldn't resist.

"And a kiss," she whispered.

Carefully, she placed her knees on the sides of his hips and rested her arms on his shoulders for support. Still watching him intently, she lowered her lips to his, only brushing against them. Kakashi's eyes didn't look away from hers, though they lost some of their focus. Satisfied, Sakura let her eyes slide closed and kissed him.

Kakashi's lips responded gently, remaining still for as long as hers did. With a hint of hesitation, her tongue darted out to trace his lower lip. Offering her a small smirk, he parted his lips to allow her to brush her tongue against his as he had taught her.

The tightening of his fingers on her hips and the brief tension in his shoulders were more than enough to make Sakura grin in vain pride.

When she broke the kiss, Kakashi watched her intently, a hint of impatience in his features. Not wishing to disappoint, Sakura undid her jacket and let it slide off her shoulders. "I guess I should play fair."

The way his fingers toyed with the waistband of her pants, Sakura could tell he was holding back. Biting her lip, she took his hands and slid them under her sweater, encouraging him to remove the garment himself, which he did with astounding compliance. Her mesh shirt, tank top, and bindings had remained back in her tent.

"I see you planned this," Kakashi said, running his hands up her sides. "Is this as far as you'd thought things through?"

"Give me some credit," Sakura scoffed before she shoved him on his back.

Now on his back, the same look of challenge flashed in his newly matching eyes. Sakura gritted her teeth. While she had an idea of what she wanted to happen, the details hadn't been worked out. Deciding her pants had to go, she removed them with laughable grace as she tried to remain on top of him without toppling over. Thankfully, he kept a straight face through her struggle, only the hint of a smile appearing on his cheeks.

Watching him carefully, she sat down in his lap, resting her fingers on the waistband of his pants. It was hard to miss the bulge in them. Again, she could feel her cheeks burn but she was quick to swallow her shyness.

Quietly, she undid the knot and loosened the cord before pushing his pants down, leaving him with the task of kicking them off. His boxers were the same shade as his pants - and most of his clothes, really. Holding back a sigh, she pulled his shaft out of them, resisting the urge to look away as she did.

As soon as her fingers wrapped around him, Sakura could feel his thighs tense under her own and see the same happening in his abdomen. A glance up at Kakashi's eyes let her know he was watching her like a hawk, maybe even with the same kind of hunger, if she dared to say so. Inhaling deeply, Sakura scooted lower on his legs and leaned forward, not giving herself the time to doubt before she wrapped her lips around his erection.

With her eyes closed, Sakura bobbed her head up and down a few times. Internally, she sighed in relief when her tongue detected no particularly strong tastes, only the mild saltiness of sweat.

"Teeth," Kakashi grunted, cupping the sides of her head with his palm.

Wincing, Sakura made sure to curl her lips over her teeth a little more, pushing back the embarrassment of having made such a rookie mistake. Nonetheless, it wasn't long after she resumed her movements before she heard Kakashi's breathing pick up, felt his fingers dig into her scalp.

When his hips jerked to follow her movements, Sakura pulled back, sitting on his thighs again. Another peek at Kakashi's face let her know he wasn't going to move until she did, though he certainly didn't want to be kept waiting too long.

Showing only a hint of hesitation, she reached for his hands, tugging until he sat up.

"Not bad for a beginner, huh?" Sakura chuckled, trying to soothe her nerves a little before she continued.

"Not bad," Kakashi mimicked, a lopsided grin on his face as he pressed kisses to her chest.

While he teased one of her nipples, Sakura aligned his shaft with her entrance and inched herself down carefully, shifting her hips from side to side whenever she met resistance.

Against her breast, she could feel Kakashi inhale sharply and his arms hugged her torso tighter, encouraging her to keep going.

Finally, Sakura was sitting on the top of his thighs, feeling him inside of her, stretching her walls a little uncomfortably. In response to her stillness, Kakashi resumed his attention to her nipples, nipping at them while one of his thumbs pressed against her clit.

Feeling the same warmth as last time spread in her abdomen, Sakura stayed still a little longer, letting him play with her, until her own breathing was heavier and something in her demanded that her hips move more.

When Sakura did raise her hips, Kakashi groaned, parting his lips. Both the sight and the sound of it sparked her arousal and she bit her lip, deciding to watch him while she started grinding her hips against his. Even though his grip on her was almost suffocating, he relinquished any control over their tempo.

After a few thrusts, Sakura whimpered, feeling the tension around her clit tighten, and leaned her arms on his shoulders again to help accelerate her rhythm. Kakashi expelled a long breath as he let his head roll back a little, only enough to be able to watch her own features be contorted by pleasure.

It wasn't long before Sakura felt small pulses of pleasure in her nether regions, making her thighs quiver and her voice shaky as moaned. Distantly, she registered Kakashi's voice groaning with hers, his hands moving down to grasp her hips and help her keep a steady rhythm. Then, his voice was strained and he grunted while she felt him twitch inside of her a few times. It wasn't until he had softened inside of her that Sakura registered what had just happened.

With a bright blush, Sakura stilled her movements to look at her partner again. His own cheeks were flushed and he was still breathing heavily. Slowly, he took her in his embrace and kept her against him as he lied down on his back. One of his hands smoothed up and down her back, raising goosebumps on her skin.

Before Sakura closed her eyes, she smiled as she spotted the nine of hearts near Kakashi's head. It seemed that they had spread the cards on the ground in their carelessness.

Even while listening to his slowing heartbeat and steadying breath, fatigue eluded her. Quite the opposite - her eyes remained wide opened and devoid of any heaviness. Without a doubt, the night to come would be sleepless, instead filled with Kakashi's presence and their mutual nightmares.

* * *

Sakura smiled as the first rays of the sun poked through the night sky, coloring the edge of it with a mild purple. With Kakashi's arm wrapped around her, keeping her close where they sat together, the chill of dawn lacked its usual bite. Leaning against his chest, she could feel him move, indicating he was taking another sip from his can of chuhai. Despite hating the taste of it, Sakura imitated him, letting the bitter taste of it linger on her tongue.

Watching the sunrise, Sakura sang quietly. "Thousands of enemies may come, but we will stand."

Without a doubt recognizing the song, Kakashi tightened his arm around her and drank again.

"Where there is a strong will, there is a way," she continued, lowering her eyes to what was left of Konoha. To nothing. Ignoring the nausea that constricted her throat, she kept singing. "With the Will of Fire, what do we fear at all? Nothing in the world shall threaten us."

Kakashi propped his chin on the top of her head. His hand rubbed her arm gently, but she could feel him trembling. "Go on until the very end. Instead of surviving shamefully, fall admirably, brave and strong."

Sakura swallowed and leaned further into Kakashi, gripping his sweater with a shaking hand.

"Never fear, never despair."

The sun was just rising above the trees in the distance, already a bright orange.

"For the Will of Fire will burn brighter thanks to you."

* * *

Being so close to Sasuke, alone in a tent, was somewhat unnerving, but none of the discomfort showed on Sakura's face while she examined his eyes. Her hands glowed green on his temples as she used her chakra to understand what was happening inside of his eyes.

"They bled a lot," Sakura whispered, thinking over the report Tsunade had given her. "It doesn't look as bad now. You should see a slight improvement in your vision soon. The red spots you've been seeing will go away gradually."

"Tsunade said my vision wouldn't improve over time," Sasuke said, looking straight into her eyes as she had instructed. Just like her, he showed no sign of uneasiness if he felt any.

"Well, the damage done to the cornea, nerves and…" Sakura sighed, deciding to drop the medic front. "Your eyes have a lot of damage, not only the blood that accumulated behind them. While the blood will go away, the damaged tissues can't recover. There's nothing we can do about it either."

"I see," he said, eyes lowering slightly.

"How much has it gone down?" she asked, tugging at one of his eyelids to take a look under, wincing when the she saw the redness spread much deeper.

Sasuke seemed to hesitate to answer. Quietly, he took her wrists in his hands and pulled them away from his head. "It's cloudy. I can't throw a kunai with precision more than twenty-five feet away. Fifty and I'll miss a quarter of the time."

Sakura swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and bit her lip. On her wrists, she could feel his hold tighten slightly. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun."

"It's not your fault."

"I just…" Sakura sighed and looked up at him, though before she could continue her sentence, Kakashi entered the tent.

Her eyes locked with Kakashi's for a second before he spoke; Sasuke let go of her hands. "We're leaving for the farm a day away towards the east at dawn tomorrow. Your team, Sakura, myself, Sai and Yamato."

"Yamato isn't in a good enough condition to travel just yet," Sakura protested.

"Hokage's orders. We need his plant knowledge," Kakashi answered strictly.

Sakura sighed and stared at her hands, fidgeting on her knees. He was right, and there was no arguing about it.

"I'll inform my team then," Sasuke said and stood up.

Before he stepped outside the tent, Kakashi's gaze met his and held it, almost aggressive.

"Don't wear yourself out today," Kakashi said to Sakura as he turned around, pulling the tent open.

For a moment, he stayed still, watching her. Sakura did just the same, her lips a thin line on her pale face.

"Everything will be fine, Sakura," he reassured, offering her a smile.

Sakura returned it, although lopsided. "I know, Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

"Everything looks good, I'll inform Tsunade-shishou that you're able to work now," Sakura said calmly, inspecting a wound that used to be infected.

"I'm happy to hear that," her patient said before pulling his shirt down.

"So am I, Kato-san. You can be on your way," she replied, a small smile spreading on her lips. At least, a few patients were faring well.

With a nod, Kato stood and left the tent.

Sakura sighed loudly, leaning back in her chair. Exhausted, she ran her fingers through her tangled up hair, wincing from the pain. There was only one patient left before her shift was up, she reminded herself. She could rest soon.

"Haruno-san?" she heard a man call behind her.

"Come in. I was just stretching a little," Sakura let out, stretching her arms and legs out, satisfied with every pop her joints made.

"You're working yourself into the ground," he said, now close enough for her to recognize Hyuuga Ko.

"I'll be fine after a good night's sleep." Sakura offered him a smile as she gestured for him to sit down. "What seems to be the problem?"

Her eyes looked him up and down, finding no obvious external injuries.

Hyuuga had been few and far between to enter the medics' tents. Having been able to break out of the jutsu immediately after it had been been dispelled, they hadn't suffered the same deterioration that the others had by staying cocooned too long. Silently, Sakura thanked whatever force allowed her and Kakashi to wake just as fast.

"It's really nothing much," Ko said, scratching the back of his head. "I think I sprained my ankle, but I was told to have it checked out to make sure it isn't a break."

"Oh, that should be no big deal," Sakura replied, relieved.

Mechanically, she held her hands out for Ko to place his ankle in, which he did obediently. Sakura prodded the sides of his ankle and twisted it from side to side carefully. "Does this hurt?"

"No," Ko answered, though she could see he was tensing up.

"How has it been, working under Tsunade-shishou for a change?" Sakura asked while she inspected his ankle closer, finding a nasty bruise on the hind side of it.

"She's a very demanding woman," he replied politely, a little too even.

"Yes, she is," Sakura laughed and pressed the tip of thumb above the bruise. "How about this?"

Ko yelped and tried to pull his leg back, but she held it firmly.

"I see," Sakura sighed. "It is a break. Just how long have you been walking on it now?"

Obviously uncomfortable, Ko fidgeting with the edge of the chair, avoiding her gaze. "A little while."

"Since the battle," she chuckled, hands glowing. "Fixing it is no big deal. Just go easy on it a couple weeks now."

"The medics were busy enough as it was…"

"And letting an injury fester is what makes our job harder," Sakura chastised as she placed his foot back on the ground. "You Hyuuga are almost the only ones who haven't been considerably weakened. Try and stay healthy in case we need you."

"Y-Yes, Haruno-san." Ko nodded lowering his head.

"Off with you now," Sakura said as she stood up, pulling the elastic that kept her hair together. "I've got another bowl of okayu waiting for me."

* * *

Sakura sighed as she stared into the fire that burned in front of her, chewing the last of her meal. By now, they should have reached the farm already, but, as she had predicted, Yamato's condition had slowed them down considerably. In front of her, Yamato was clutching his shoulder, obviously in quite a lot of pain.

The other group they were traveling with had settled down a little distance away, in another clearing that could hold all of them.

"I knew this wasn't a good idea," Sakura grumbled, hugging herself for warmth.

Spring was on its way, but it sure was taking its sweet time.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan," Yamato tried to reassure, but his voice was strained. "You needed me here. I'll be fine."

"We should get to sleep," Kakashi said dryly.

Without another word, everyone did as he asked. Due to the cold, everyone was sharing a sleeping bag.

"Cutie pie," Suigetsu called. "You sleeping with the old man again?"

With a sigh, Sakura nodded. "Yes."

To make her point clear, Sakura slipped in Kakashi's sleeping bag, where he was already waiting for her. Seeing Juugo and Sasuke lie down in their own made her smile. It was hard not to want to laugh when you saw Sasuke snuggle up with another man, who seemed just as unwilling. Just a little farther, she could see Sai and Yamato do the same, though they looked much more comfortable.

"You should share with me," Suigetsu complained. "I'm cold here all alone."

"No, thank you," Sakura scoffed.

All day, he had been grinding on everyone's nerves, and Sakura could feel the last of her control slipping.

Kakashi zipped their sleeping bag closed and lie down behind her, wrapping an arm around her at the same time. Immediately, Sakura felt her body relax a little as Kakashi's warmth spread to her.

"C'mon, I'm freezing by myself," Suigetsu whined. "I gotta be better than some old dude with white hair."

"She's already with the old dude with white hair," Kakashi said, finally expressing a tiny part of the annoyance he felt at his comrade. Sakura bit back a laugh and held Kakashi's hand, surprised to find how cold his fingers were. "If she wanted to be in yours, she wouldn't be in my bed."

"It ain't fair that I have to sleep alone again!" Suigetsu shouted, slamming his fist in the grass. "I want the pretty girl!"

"Shut the fuck up," Sasuke growled, throwing a pebble at his head. "And you have white hair too."

"It's _blue_! Stop sucking up to that weirdo!" Suigetsu screamed, rubbing his injured cheek. "You're supposed to be _my _friend!"

"You're keeping everyone awake and getting on our nerves," Yamato cut in, at the end of his patience. "Maybe if you weren't such a pain, you'd have someone to keep you warm too."

"Assholes," Suigetsu grumbled, snuggling up in his sleeping bag the best he could.

* * *

By all means, Sakura had wanted to be happy when they finally reached the farm. The vast majority of the planted crops were ripe and ready for harvest, with very few of them having starting to deteriorate and get invaded by pests: cabbage, leek, parsnips, and onions. Back in the shack, they had even found several large bags of rice, dry mushrooms, beans, and even a variety of noodles. Even if the farm wasn't so large, the quantity of food was impressive.

Overall, it would have been heaven on Earth - if it wasn't for the twelve corpses they had found, all cocooned, rotting in the odd material that had trapped them to their last breath. Any cattle they had been raising had since long fled, most likely in search of food and water.

While everyone gathered everything they could load into their carts, Sakura had wandered inside the house to look for anything they could use. In a bedroom - a woman's bedroom - she had found a drawer full of clothes that were near her size.

Rummaging through the garments, Sakura sighed. Much like her mother's wardrobe, these clothes seemed bland and not so flattering. _Ladylike_, her mother would say, _modest and reserved_.

Like many others, her mother and father had passed away on the battlefield, but Sakura refused to dwell on it.

Sighing, she held up a bland white shirt, staring at it with weary eyes.

From behind her, Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "You won't have to be naked for the rest of spring. I'm sure Suigetsu will be devastated by the news," he tried to joke.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and folded the shirt. "It's a dead woman's shirt."

"It's all we have," Kakashi said, voice stiff with the underlying despair that suffocated them all.

"I know. I'm sorry," Sakura let out quickly, feeling guilty for being so ungrateful. "Let's go back outside."

Looking at the field and the two full carts of supplies they were bringing back, Sakura was able to smile genuinely. Yamato had found plenty that they could plant. With some luck, they wouldn't be starving by the end of the month. Above all, she was relieved that they would be having tastier food than okayu. Anything was better than okayu.

"Sakura."

Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see Sasuke approaching. "Sasuke-kun."

"Eat this," Sasuke said, handing her a handful of dried deer meat. "You haven't eaten enough for lunch."

"Keep it, Sasuke-kun." Sakura shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You aren't fine," he replied, watching her with the same annoyance as he had years ago. "You need to eat more."

"He's right, Sakura," Kakashi chimed in. "You've lost more weight than any of us it seems."

"Fine," Sakura grumbled, snatching the meat from Sasuke's hand only to stuff it into her pocket. "I'll eat it on the way home."

"Eat it now," Sasuke growled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You won't keep it if you don't."

"Cut me some slack!" Sakura snapped, balling her fists at her sides. "What does it matter to you what I do with my food?"

"Stop being such an idiot over this." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. Quietly, he looked back up at her, staring straight into her eyes. "We _need_ you to be in good shape."

Sakura's jaw clenched with the effort it took to hold back her argument. Instead, she fished in her pocket to take the meat out. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Sasuke-kun."

"Kakashi-san!"

Immediately, their heads whipped around to look in Hyuuga Akira's direction. He stood barely twenty feet away from them and they could clearly see his Byakugan was activated.

"I see civilians up ahead! Two kilometers east!"

"We can't keep burying every corpse we see, Akira," Kakashi sighed, shoulders dropping further.

Sakura's eyes rose to meet Kakashi's and she forced a smile, wishing she could say something, do something, for him.

"They're alive."


	4. Chapter 3: Playing Dirty

**Author's Note:** For those not current in the manga, here's a slight summary: the ninja villages formed an alliance against Akatsuki et al; Sasuke heel face turns again and fights with Naruto against the Big Bad; Madara puts everyone in a genjutsu, the results of which are currently unknown in canon, and which this story extrapolates. It's no more of a spoiler than anything you've already read in here, and there was a spoiler warning. We just wanted to clarify for those who may not be caught up. Any more questions can be directed to us in reviews, of course, or you can look up on Narutopedia.

Thanks to everyone who's stumbled across this story so far! We'll keep publishing and it should pick up some steam.

* * *

The haze was heaviest in the hour before dawn, slipping cold and wet fingers up through the loose endings of Kakashi's pants, his customary leg bindings long ago re-appropriated as medical bandages. His worn shinobi sandals gave tiny, squelching squeaks every time they parted the dew-laden grass, tall and healthy as it was.

The flora may be flourishing, but the further they pushed into Water Country, the more infrequent fauna sightings became. Now, the unnatural silence pressed on Kakashi almost as much as the oppressive fog, but he concentrated on the sounds of Water Country's myriad bug species to distract him. Bugs were the only survivors they'd seen in almost a week. With each passing day, the thrill of seeing those first few faces – plump and dirty and unscarred from battle and exhausted and alive – wore off just a little.

But the civilians that the Hyuuga had spotted had sworn they left a relatively healthy village behind, deep in the bowels of their native Water Country. They'd only realized something was wrong when shipments stopped coming in from the closest village they traded with, some thirty miles away, and when their own regular convoy had returned with bewildered news of mummies. They'd sent two groups out after that to seek help – one to Konoha, and one to Mist. The party sent to Konoha had eventually been intercepted by Kakashi and his comrades.

Yamato, Hyuuga Akira, and the rest had returned to Konoha with both the miraculous civilians and the much-needed supplies, and Kakashi had taken Sai, Sakura, Sasuke, and Sasuke's team to investigate the prospect of normal people who had not only managed to survive the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but had apparently been bypassed by it entirely.

As the sun began to burn away the worst of the fog, their destination became clearer. The ruts in the road were now deeper, more varied, though they actually traveled beside the road to avoid the mud.

"Not another one," whined Suigetsu, kicking a stone. "Can't we just note the number of farmhouses between here and the place and be done with it?"

"We must catalogue the available resources for Konoha," Sai said listlessly, though he looked no more cheered by the prospect than Suigetsu. "Other teams will know which locations to prioritize in their retrieval missions."

"But we're not even writing it down or anything," Suigetsu muttered. "It's stupid..."

Kakashi needed no ink or paper – both resources which should be preserved for more important uses – to recall the inventories of the other farmhouses, but he doubted even he remembered it all in the precise detail Sakura had. Kakashi wasted no breath explaining this to Suigetsu. Sai understood, and simply called out how many pounds of rice or flour were in the stores while Kakashi and Sakura took stock of everything else.

Sasuke either understood or didn't care, but he stopped standing around looking bored long enough to do anything asked of him, at least, with Juugo and Suigetsu trotting along after him.

The closer they drew to the cozy-looking cabin, the more the silence stuck to Kakashi's ribs like he'd swallowed sticky tar. The lack of life noises, the quiet windows, the slightly ajar door - it spoke of what they would find inside more efficiently than any words possibly could.

They all paused at the entrance, Kakashi interrupting the routine of going first.

Juugo, skulking near the back, spoke as he rarely did.

"Do we ... Do we have to open them this time? The cocoons?"

"It's impossible for anyone cocooned to have survived at this point," Sakura said, but turned baleful green eyes to Kakashi for confirmation.

Kakashi nodded. Sai uncrossed his arms, tension easing in his shoulders.

"Good," Suigetsu said brusquely, though he made no move to enter the house either. "It smells like shit when we cut them open."

Sasuke made a noise of annoyance in the back of his throat and threw the door open, striding inside with purpose. With the threshold crossed, they all followed and fell into their usual roles. The cocoons - one of them frighteningly small - remained unmolested, gathered around the kitchen table in front of a rotted meal sprouting black mold.

Even the smell of the mold and curdled milk from the pantry couldn't cover the pungent, putrid sweetness the cocoons merely suppressed. The smell used to make Kakashi's mouth water with sourness, but it hardly rolled his stomach anymore, so ubiquitous it had become.

"This place has been ransacked," Sai said unnecessarily, banging through empty cupboards.

Suigetsu snorted, looking around for himself. "No shit."

"It's more surprising this is the first time we've seen something like this," Sakura said.

"Especially in the Water Country," Suigetsu said in an unusually serious tone, poking his head inside what was probably the only bedroom. "The people here can be vultures -"

Suigetsu cut off abruptly and turned away. Kakashi stepped forward to look over his shoulder and spotted the thing they were all most tired of seeing: a crib. Sakura pushed past them both a little too roughly, her mouth in a grim line.

"Why do you always have to look?" Suigetsu's voice was gruff enough that it seemed to surprise even himself and he immediately fixed the customary leer back onto his face. "I've always liked masochistic girls."

Normally, Sakura might have snapped at him for that remark, but she just patted him lightly on the arm as she passed. It only made Suigetsu scowl. Kakashi might have been surprised to see a weakness so close to the surface in a man whose greatest hobby, according to all reports, was murdering and dismembering his victims - but then again, Kakashi didn't know anyone totally unaffected by dead babies.

Kakashi moved past Suigetsu to where Sakura was staring into the crib. Inside was what was once an infant, bearing no trace of a cocoon. Its corpse carried all the hallmarks of a harsh death via slow starvation: swollen head, distended abdomen, protruding ribs, arms so thin they seemed to be attached with rope. The little boy's eyes were closed but his mouth was open. A single maggot crawled out, and Kakashi could no longer bear it. He twitched a soft yellow blanket up to cover the body.

"It's so cruel," Sakura whispered. "I wish they... Then they could have at least died happy."

"If they could have understood such a thing, they would have. And little Asuma - would you rather he die happy?"

Sakura met his steady gaze. He knew she was thinking of Kurenai and her baby boy, far out in the forest looking after the Nara estate while they were all at war - far enough to avoid destruction, adept enough at genjutsu to break out quickly, fortunate enough that her child was still too young to be able to imagine a better world. Alive, and with the only known child survivor in the whole village. Lucky couldn't begin to describe it.

Sakura gave Kakashi a smile that came out more like a grimace, but a smile nonetheless. "You're right. Do we have anything else to do here?"

Kakashi stepped out of the room and made a hand signal. "Let's move out."

* * *

The approach to their destination was shrouded in a fog so opaque it made the rest of the trip's skies seem clear. So thick was it that the smell was what Kakashi noticed first - death, but not stale as he had become accustomed to. It was sharp and tangy and harsh, with a hint of faded fear. Kakashi could not see in front of him, but when his foot trod on a limp hand, it did not surprise him.

Suigetsu kicked the body over to look at its face, gaze lingering over the man's bulbous nose and blued, swollen face. "Jozu clan. Killed by the Hakken clan, it looks like. No surprise there - they've been offing each other since the dawn of time."

Juugo leaned down and closed the man's eyes. "But wasn't there an alliance…?"

Suigetsu snorted. "How long did you think that would last in Mist? I don't know what that bitch Terumi Mei did to get them to call off the civil wars for a while, but my guess is all bets were off once she turned up dead."

"How stupid," Sakura said softly, frowning, "to fight each other at a time like this."

"Yeah, they're real bright." Suigetsu moved forward until he found another body, this one missing an arm, and sneered at it.

Kakashi swept ahead and they followed, eyes darting around as they assessed any remaining threat. There were only ninja corpses, all apparently Mist and recently dead. They began to pass buildings with signs of recent life but seemingly abandoned.

Sasuke flipped another corpse that lay against the door of a farmhouse. "This is no ninja."

"Why would they kill civilians?" Sai said, looking to Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't answer, still moving forward until they reached the town proper. No doubt this was their destination. It was hardly the thriving village they'd been expecting. The houses looked lived in, true, but as they went through them one by one, they found no one. Still, there were no cocoons.

A chirping sound broke the silence and Juugo looked up and smiled, lifting his hand. A bird perched on it, the same bird that had come across by chance earlier, and Juugo whispered to it.

"He found a survivor."

The bird flew off and they raced to follow it, breaking into a locked house with almost no pause. Waiting for them was a stooped man with wild grey hair brandishing a kitchen knife with shaking hands.

"Stay back," he croaked, his Water accent thick. "We are of no use to you."

"We mean you no harm," Kakashi said, raising his hands in supplication. "We came to help."

"We need no help from you, or the Jozu, or the Hakken." The man tightened grizzled fingers on the dulled blade.

"We?" Sakura said, looking around curiously, unconcerned with the man's weapon.

Her question was answered when the bundle of blankets on the bed began to move and a cry rose from it - a healthy, angry cry. Sakura inhaled sharply and rushed forward, simply batting the man aside when he tried to rush her, disarming him easily. Suigetsu moved to restrain the man loosely, but Sakura ignored that and unwrapped the blankets reverently.

"Oh, Kakashi…" Her voice hitched.

Sai slowly lowered his weapons. "Is that - is that a _baby_?"

Suigetsu stopped picking his teeth with a senbon long enough to roll his eyes. "No, dipshit, it's your fairy godmother."

Juugo moved forward to stare at the bundle, face awestruck. "It's alive?"

Sakura picked the baby up, hesitantly, unsure, and it grabbed at a lock of her hanging hair and yanked, then turned into her breast and finally quit wailing. When she realized it was trying to suckle, she swiftly dumped it into Kakashi's arms. He smirked at her and she flushed.

"Is it yours?" Sakura said, turning towards the prisoner to cover up her embarrassment.

Their prisoner stopped struggling, letting his arms fall to his sides slowly as he looked at each of them in turn, clearly dubious.

"Come on, toots," Suigetsu said, letting the man go, apparently bored. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. This dude's _old._"

"No," the man said simply, looking uncomfortable, but no longer trying to attack them. "She's Daiki and Chinatsu's child."

"And where are they?" Kakashi asked, looking into the baby's unhappy face. He feared he already knew the answer.

"Dead," the man said flatly. "They tried to fight. Foolish, I told them. Foolish."

Sakura met Kakashi's gaze, already on the same page as him. "And was it a clan dispute?"

"It ended up that way," the man said, running his fingers through his sparse outcropping of hair. "How the Hakken got wind of the Jozu's plans, I don't know, but it can't be a coincidence, can it, that we send out people to Mist and Konoha and then…"

The sentence hung unfinished in the air. Suigetsu spat on the ground, his face hard.

"What's your name?" Sakura said gently.

"Isamu, but why even bother asking?" he said, drawing himself up to his full height. "I'm a boat builder - that's what you're really interested in, isn't it? You're from Konoha, it's clear as the mists parting, and I'm what you've come for. How terribly disappointed you must be, to travel all this way for an old man and a baby."

"We are from Konoha," Kakashi said, "but we've come to help. We can take you back to Konoha to join your brothers who sought our assistance -"

Isamu eyed Kakashi keenly. "You can, can you? Why bother with the pretense? We both know I don't have a choice in the matter - do I?"

"No," Kakashi said heavily. "Not really."

The baby began to squall once more.

* * *

The journey home was considerably slower. Isamu was hale for his age, but the baby was cantankerous. They were all short on sleep and shorter on patience.

"Sari," Isamu cooed. "Sari, don't you want to eat the lovely sweet potatoes for Uncle Isamu?"

She threw the mashed sweet potato at him, pelting him in the face. He swore and lumbered off to wash himself in a nearby stream. Sakura took over trying to coax the baby to eat, but it was no use. Up until now, roasting sweet potatoes in the flame had worked - for it was basically the only baby-friendly food that they had found in a rare unmolested cold storage - but all of a sudden, little Sari was gravely offended by the sight of the orange mash.

"Why didn't we steal a cow or something?" Suigetsu muttered darkly, glaring at the child as if he'd like to physically shut it up. "Maybe if we had milk like we were supposed to, I could get some fucking sleep."

Sakura was working to keep the frustration off her face as the baby kept pushing the food away. The sight of it made Kakashi smile.

Sakura was less amused. "Babies can't drink cow's milk, you idiot."

"No need to snap, Miss Priss."

Isamu came loping back, clearly relieved to see his duties assumed. "Did you see any cows? The Jozu took the livestock, and the Hakken took the people. How that makes sense, don't ask me, but there you have it."

"The Hakken clan were the victors and the people are the more valuable resource," Sai said to Isamu as if he were explaining it to Sari instead. "The livestock was likely a concession to prevent further fighting."

"Shut up, Sai. That is so rude." Sakura threw a little handful of spit-up mashed sweet potato at him, which he dodged handily.

Sai smiled broadly at Isamu. "Please excuse any rudeness on my part. I have been told that I am socially retarded."

Suigetsu let loose a cackle. "You don't say."

"You're one to talk," Sakura hissed at Suigetsu, then frowned softly at Sai. "You don't have to say it like that, you know. It's not your fault."

With a shrug, Sai took a bite of his own roasted potato. "Regardless of fault, I make civilians uncomfortable."

"You'll get used to it," Sakura assured, sighing in relief as Sari finally accepted another bite of mash. "You haven't even met that many civilians before."

"He's not likely to meet many more now," Sasuke said, face sour as he poked the campfire.

No one spoke again after that, the mood dampened. They finished their meals and cleaned up, preparing for bed.

The baby was crying, as usual, but it didn't take long for the camp to fall into its sleep routines. The noise didn't bother most of them, having slept in worse conditions, and despite his protests, Suigetsu fell asleep quickly, the soft snores speaking of how safe he felt. Sai, relegated to Suigetsu's sleeping partner in the absence of Yamato, wasn't far behind. They had the last watch shift and rose the earliest.

Sakura had her back to Kakashi's chest, staring into the flames, unspeaking. Sasuke and Juugo were as quiet as ever, so it left Kakashi to contemplate the lines of her shoulders with his fingers, wondering. She was tense, and didn't respond to his touch under the sleeping bag. Her mood had been dour lately, and while the cause was obvious, it worried him. She had always made a point to put on a cheerful face before.

Finally, Isamu broke the silence. "So what do they plan to do with me? I can't imagine there's too many boats to build in Konoha. And even my village considers me an old man, living on their hospitality."

"That is not up to us to decide," Sasuke said, monotone as ever. "You will be fed, protected, and eventually, housed. What are your other options?"

Isamu frowned, fussing uneasily with the baby.

"Civilian knowledge is irreplaceable," Juugo said, trying to comfort the man by repeating something he had heard.

"I told the Hakken I was blind," Isamu said after awhile. "Blind, and old - another mouth to feed. And then Sari woke. I was worried - but they were even more convinced. Useless, they said, and left."

Sakura grew rigid beside Kakashi. "Better for you that they did, then."

"Perhaps," Isamu said, hushing Sari.

And then, as jumpy as usual around any sort of tension, Juugo began to ask Sasuke what life in Konoha had been like before. Sakura eyed Sasuke suspiciously, but he gave only rote answers, truths about the Academy and such and nothing to raise the eyebrows of listening civilian ears.

Kakashi paid it no mind, rubbing Sakura's shoulder to relax her. When it started to have an effect, he spread his hand lower, over her waist, ruffling her thin civilian blouse. As he passed his fingers over her stomach muscles, he felt them clench. A smirk twisted his lips as he walked his fingers over her belly, enjoying the ripple of the muscles that even malnutrition had not managed to destroy. He crept lower, ignoring his better judgment as he slipped under the elastic band of her pants, and bit back a smile at the sudden tightening. She held her breath as he combed through the coarse hairs he knew were a delightful shade of pink.

"I was six, yes," Sakura said suddenly, and he realized someone must have been addressing her. "But some people started early. Like Kakashi-sensei, right?"

Kakashi slid his fingers lower, into the peak of her folds, as he shifted his hips forward, making sure she could feel his hardening shaft along the curve of her ass. "I told you how old I was, once. Don't you remember, Sakura-chan?"

"Hmm," she stalled, and he could see the flush creeping up the back of her neck. Idly, he wondered how glad she was that only their heads were visible under the thick sleeping bag.

His fingers danced slow circles around her nub as it responded to his attentions. "I thought you were a good student," he scolded playfully, swiping down briefly to gather the growing moisture and spread it higher.

"You can't expect me to memorize every little thing about you - mmm." She cut off the moan with a cough as a weak cover when he brought the heel of his palm down on her abruptly. "You were four, right? But you were only five when you graduated."

"Very good," Kakashi said, resisting the urge to breathe it against her neck. "You deserve a reward."

"I want a cookie," she said, sounding uncertain, trying to keep the quiver from her voice as her hips began to rock back against him so lightly he could barely feel it. "Or a shower."

"Is that so?" He played at her entrance, waiting for something more.

"Yes," she said, and wiggled her bottom deliberately against his erection, sparking heat in his belly.

The conversation continued on without them, which suited Kakashi just fine. He concentrated on keeping his breaths steady and even, on controlling the involuntary jerks of his hips as he pressed into her again and again.

It wouldn't do to push her over the brink out in the open, so when her thighs were trembling beneath him, Kakashi withdrew his hand and rubbed her arm briskly. "That cold, are we, Sakura? You're shivering."

"I must be," she muttered, despite the new warmth filling the sleeping bag, and he could only imagine her glare. It brought a smile to his face and made him forget his intentions of stopping.

"Let me warm you up." Under the pretense of drawing her closer, he shifted her leg and drove a finger between her legs, unsurprised to find it wet and ready for him.

She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and tensed immediately as he began to move the digit in her. With each twitch of his finger, her shoulders relaxed even as her internal muscles jumped, gripping him tighter each time. She rolled her hips once, her mouth falling open in a silent moan, then shifted suddenly, going rigid. She batted his hand away, yanking her pants back up, and scrambled out of the sleeping bag.

"I thought you were cold," Sasuke said quietly, eyes trained steadily on her.

"Suddenly I feel too hot," she said, then blushed. "I mean, I thought I'd warm up better by moving around. Besides, we have first watch."

Sasuke's customary smirk took on a dangerous edge. "Your cheeks are red, Sakura. Do you have a fever?"

The color in her face only deepened. For a minute, she was tongue tied, but finally managed, "You should probably get some sleep, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke turned his predatory gaze on Kakashi for a fraction of a second too long and then shrugged. "As you say."

Kakashi frowned, watching his most wayward student carefully, but Sasuke only turned in for the night, Juugo close behind. Kakashi rolled on his back and propped his hands behind his head, surreptitiously sniffing his fingers in the process. They smelled of her, and it pleased him.

Sakura stood watch, staring at the fire once more, as Isamu settled down with the baby, trying to quiet it. He had some success, long enough to fall asleep himself, so when Sari's cries began anew, Sakura sighed and leaned over her.

Heat still coursing through his blood, Kakashi eyed Sakura's backside. In an almost absentminded way, he stroked his cock through his pants, lightly running the pads of his fingers up to the tip and back down again. Unbidden, his mind provided images of what she might look like if he knocked her to her knees and took her from behind right there, pulling her pink hair so she cried out - damn the rest of them. Sakura, unaware of his thoughts, scooped Sari up, bouncing the baby on her hip.

This seemed to calm the child, but Sakura still looked annoyed even as Sari blinked to sleep, so Kakashi finally roused himself and lay heavy hands on her shoulders. "What is it? Is it the baby? Does it bother you?"

"It's not the baby's fault that everyone expects me to know what to do with it," Sakura snapped, then leaned back into his chest.

He had been worried that seeing a baby so close and personal had put a longing in her; she pretended to be unaffected by the news, after Sasori, that there was too much scar tissue for her ever to regain fertility. Of their team, she told only Kakashi, and had smiled breezily and said it was probably for the best, being a ninja. Kakashi knew better, though. She was avoiding the subject again, but he didn't see the harm in letting her. He began to massage her shoulders gently, running a thumb along the little wispy hairs at the bottom of her ponytail.

"You do know more than us, though."

Sakura arched into his touch, rolling her neck. "I don't, really. You just think that because I'm a woman."

"Or maybe because you're a medic." He ran a knuckle up her spine and she shuddered.

"Kurenai's was the first baby I held," she protested, but with a different flame than anger making her voice thick.

"You're quick to volunteer, if you dislike it so much."

Gently, she snuggled the baby into the blanket nest situated next to Isamu. "Who else will do it? You? Sasuke?"

The chuckle suppressed in her voice drew one from him as well as he yanked her around to fall against his chest, her breasts soft as they pressed into him. Her smile was gentle, now, and real.

"I'd feed a baby for you," he breathed into her ear. "Even a squalling brat like that one."

She tilted her head back, exposing her throat. "It's not her fault," she said, but Kakashi sensed that Sakura's interest in the conversation had long ago deserted her.

Kakashi huffed into her hair, unable to resist dragging his lips along her neck as he withdrew. Coming back to himself, he stepped away and glanced around, but everyone else was still safely asleep. When he looked back at Sakura, her glare was fierce.

"Oh no you don't," she growled, and fisted her hand in his sweater, pulling him back to her. "You're playing dirty tonight."

When she spoke, her lips brushed against his and her hot breath fanned his cheek.

"Maybe I should make it up to you."

She molded herself to him, exhaling into his ear. "I thought you said I deserved a reward."

"So I did." He squeezed her shapely ass while she dragged her tongue along his masked jaw, standing on her tiptoes.

His pulse beat a tattoo in time to her varying pressure, and he was all too aware of the length of her along his body, touching everywhere except where he truly wanted.

He hesitated. What she was proposing was risky, especially when they were supposed to be on watch with civilians in their care - and then she lay a firm hand on his crotch and all reservations fled his mind.

Without thinking about it anymore, he took her hand and led her downwind, just far enough away for some sort of privacy but close enough to notice if anything went amiss in the camp.

When he stopped and turned to her, her grin was mischievous. "You started it," she said as if she knew what he was thinking, and she probably did.

Kakashi tore down his mask and attacked her mouth with his own, patience burning away like the fire she was lighting in his veins. "I started it," he agreed hoarsely as he lowered her compliant body to the ground, "and I'm going to finish it."

With a twitch of his wrist, her threadbare pants were around her ankles and he had two fingers inside her. She was still slick from before, and he already knew from her swallowed moan that she didn't object.

"Shh." He watched as she clamped a hand over her mouth and then lowered his lips to her sex.

Before long, she was bucking wildly against his face and panting behind her palm, twisting her other hand's fingers into his already knotted hair. He raised his head just a fraction to look at her - the buttons of her blouse coming undone as she squirmed, the flush on her chest that was creeping towards her face, the haze in her green eyes.

"Fuck me now," she groaned, pulling at his scalp.

The blatant words, foreign on her tongue, made his cock jump in his pants, but he ignored her request.

"Such filth, Sakura-chan."

Kakashi paid no mind to the slap to the side of the head that didn't surprise him and renewed his efforts. She was moving now in a steady rhythm in time with his fingers - something he hadn't needed to teach her, he noted, with a smirk against her. She noticed when he faltered and pressed his face back down with a rough growl. He bit back a laugh and obeyed her this time, following her lead to push her over the edge.

With each push of his fingers and sweep of his tongue, she lifted her hips, stomach rippling, thighs quivering, breaths expelled frantically through an open mouth, both hands now gripping his hair for dear life. The moment seemed to stretch, filled with wet sounds and swallowed whimpers and her heady aroma invading his nose, making his patience run low.

_'Fuck me now.'_ The memory of her voice tugged at him; his hold on her waist tightened as he sharpened his control. Finally, he felt her contract around his fingers, once acutely and then in smaller echoes, and her nails dug into his scalp.

"O-oh, that's..." She let his hair free and he came up for air, admiring her heaving bosom and the look of surprise still etched onto her face.

Kakashi wiped his face on his sleeve and freed his painful erection from his trousers. Vaguely, she registered his actions and shifted into position. He sank into her without hesitation, his eyes rolling back in his head at the feel of it after waiting so long.

"Happy birthday," he managed to grind out raggedly.

"What?" she sighed, only half paying attention to his words as she wiggled to adjust herself. "Shut up."

"So bossy," Kakashi said affectionately, leaning down to place a kiss on the diamond seal on her forehead - too chaste for her, as she roughly tugged his face down to hers in a passionate meeting of tongues.

He chuckled into her mouth but it morphed into a groan as she raised her hips to meet his. Once the thrusting began, it didn't last long - a few minutes of wandering hands, pesky clothes in the way, and relentless waves of pleasure until he slowed, panting into her neck as he spilled inside of her.

Sakura heaved a great sigh and placed a sloppy kiss on his mouth before tucking his mask back into place. "Mm, that was nice."

He rolled off of her and adjusted his pants. "Do you feel rewarded, then?"

Leaning back on her elbows, she rolled her eyes. "Was it a reward or a birthday present? Make up your mind. My birthday was yesterday, you know."

"Was it?" Kakashi shrugged; it was so easy to lose track of the days now. "Better make it your birthday present then."

Sakura took his proffered hand to help her stand up and leaned against his chest once more. "But what about my reward? Don't cheat me now."

Kakashi took his mask back down and gave her a long, gentle kiss. Their lips moved slowly against one another, all the urgency already bled away. When he finally released her, she rocked back on her heels.

"How's that?" Kakashi said and tweaked her nose. "It'll have to do, because I don't have anything else to offer."

The sight of her toothy smile shot something like electricity down the back of Kakashi's neck all the way to the base of his spine.

"It's perfect," she said.

"You wouldn't rather have a shower?"

She laughed. "Well... Maybe. If there's soap, too."

"I see what I'm worth to you," he joked and she bumped him with her hip as she re-situated her clothing. "We better get back to camp."

"I guess," she said, pulling a face.

When they walked back into the clearing, Sakura was still tucking her blouse back in - and froze, for Isamu had awoken while they were gone.

"Isamu-san, I ah... I hope we didn't wake you. We were - scouting." She couldn't sound more nervous, more obvious, fidgeting with her hair and clothes.

The old man smiled at them knowingly. "I wasn't always a geezer, you know."

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably.

Isamu just tapped the side his nose, still smiling. "Don't fret. Sari woke me, and no one else roused. She's already back down."

With a strange sinking feeling in his stomach, Kakashi shook Juugo and left him to wake Sasuke for their watch. Then Kakashi settled into his sleeping bag with Sakura, turning his back to hers.

"Good night," she whispered, squeezing his thigh despite the tenseness that had returned to her shoulders.

"Good night."

In spite of the new unease that gripped him, he drifted off to sleep almost immediately. By the morning, it would be forgotten.

* * *

When morning came, it came in red. The sun was rising over the trees in brilliant oranges and crimsons muted by the haze its rays had just begun to burn away.

Sai was painting the skyscape, except he had changed the backdrop to the Hokage monument. By the time Kakashi actually considered rousing himself, Sai was done, putting on the finishing touches - and just in time, for the baby began to cry, like clockwork, as the sun finally peaked the trees. Juugo picked Sari up, rocking her, and a bird landed on his shoulder, serenading.

This finally woke Sakura, who rolled out of their sleeping bag. The top buttons of her too-loose blouse had come undone again during the night, but still bleary-eyed, Sakura failed to notice that the gap in the fabric hung dangerously open. Kakashi considered warning her, but instead, propped himself up on his elbow with a smile, watching her stretch.

"Ooh, what's this, Sai?" she mumbled as she came to, wandering over to admire his work.

"You're very talented," offered Isamu from where he was washing up in the stream.

As Sakura leaned over the collapsible easel - a rare survivor, but then again Sai was perhaps the only ninja who would carry such a thing into the heart of war itself - she gasped in wonderment.

"The monument! How lovely."

"I feel I should warn you as a friend, Hag, that you are nearly exposing your breasts." Sai cocked his head, considering. "Although that might only be the correct protocol between female friends. I can't recall."

Sakura stood up straight, clutching her blouse collar to her throat, flushed. "No, it's - it's good. Thanks, Sai."

Kakashi quirked his lips until Suigetsu snorted softly. "Way to spoil it for the rest of us, pasty face. Not that it's all that much to look at anyway."

Sakura's back stiffened, but she ignored Suigetsu as she carefully buttoned her shirt. "But why did you use your watercolors, Sai? I thought they were only for special occasions until we figure out how to get more."

"But it is a special occasion," Sai said with a smile. "It's your birthday. I think, anyway."

Her jaw dropped open, hand flying to her open mouth. "That's so sweet. It was my birthday a few days ago. Thank you."

Sai inclined his head. "Seventeen, right?"

"We're the same age now."

Eyes twinkling, Sakura beamed at Sai. Kakashi's own smile dropped off his face. Seventeen years old. It sounded so strange, said aloud, though Kakashi had always known how old she was. At seventeen, he had been an ANBU captain and no one would have minded who he cared to sleep with. It wouldn't be so with Sakura, Kakashi knew - but still, he always forgot such things when the moment came. He couldn't help but see her as she was: just Sakura. Sai and Sakura continued their conversation, unaware of Kakashi's thoughts.

"I wanted to show you," Sai said quietly, pointing at his easel. "See, it's still Konoha. Even now."

Sakura kissed Sai on the cheek. "I know it. Really, that's so thoughtful of you, I -"

Her jaw snapped shut mid-word, and Kakashi saw her pupils dilate at the exact same moment he registered what he was sensing, already springing to his feet. Sasuke had already ripped Isamu from the stream and they all huddled around him and Juugo, who still clutched the baby to his chest. The bird had already fled, but the baby squalled on, oblivious.

"What's going on?" Isamu whispered.

No one responded, but the answer soon became obvious as three enemy ninja descended on the clearing, jutsu already blazing. Before anyone had a chance to react, Suigetsu's head was encased in a globe of swirling, blackened water. As Kakashi's water dragon grappled with a snaking column of water that burst from the stream, Sai sent a senbon flying through the globe to the left of Suigetsu's ear, but the bubble did not burst. Suigetsu fell to the ground, clutching at his neck.

"Hakken!" Isamu shouted hoarsely, covering his mouth. "Don't breathe the black!"

Kakashi managed to electrocute the water user and the lightning bolt connected with a hiss and the smell of charred flesh just as Sasuke put his crackling blue katana through the back of another enemy's chest.

A sickening crunch and an abrupt end to a horrible scream behind Kakashi told him that Sakura and Sai had dispatched the third. It was disturbingly quiet now that the battle was over as quickly as it began - or so Kakashi thought. Something let out an inhuman screech that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

"Sari!" Isamu called, just as Kakashi realized the reason the silence was so eery. The baby had stopped crying. "No, no! What is that thing?"

Kakashi whirled to see a black and grey monster where Juugo should be. One arm still clutched the baby to its chest while the other elongated into claw-like talons. Cackling madly, the beast crawled toward the enemy ninja Sasuke had skewered, who was still struggling to breathe. With each thumping step, the baby's non-responsive, dangling arm swung back and forth.

Sakura stared at the thing, wide eyed, blood spattered across her face. She met Kakashi's gaze across the clearing and he nodded, catching Sai's eye as well. They began to circle Juugo, or what was once Juugo. Kakashi pulled out a kunai; Sakura pulled her gloves tighter; Sai unsheathed his tanto.

They were too slow. Suigetsu, still trapped in the dark orb of water, tackled Juugo and shoved the baby at a startled Sakura. Juugo roared, violently tearing at Suigetsu's straining limbs, cutting him with the talons as he began to leak water like a punctured balloon.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke stepped forward calmly, and his dark eyes swirled back to life, flashing red. Immediately, Juugo sagged into Suigetsu. Grey faded to pink; black brightened to orange. Juugo was, once again, just a man. He took a look around, bewildered, and when he spotted the silent, limp baby in Sakura's arms, he began to cry, sobs racking his large frame. Kakashi helped Sasuke up from where he had fallen to the ground, heels of his palms clasped to his eyes, blood leaking out underneath.

Suigetsu, his head free but looking distinctly melty around the edges, stepped forward and rested his sword on the remaining aggressor's neck.

"What did you want with us, you Hakken bastard? I was trying to filter your weak-ass poison, but Juugo rushed me, so now I'm polluted. I'll be shitting that crap for a week, thanks to you." Suigetsu spit on the man's face.

"What - what's it to you," the man hacked, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

"More like what's it to you?" Suigetsu grinned wickedly. "What is mercy worth, to a dying man?"

"We heard you had more civilians," the man rasped, changing his tune quickly. "The Kizanu clan stole all ours. Or tried to. Burned them all to the ground while they slept rather than let us have them, those motherfuckers."

"No," Isamu sobbed brokenly. "Why..."

"Mercy," pled the Hakken, coughing up more blood. "Mercy."

Suigetsu's nostrils flared in excitement and he drew the huge sword down, toyed with the tip over the man's heart, and then turned and hacked off his arm in one fell swoop. His torso became a fountain of blood a fraction of a second before he let loose an unholy scream. Suigetsu laughed deep in his belly, moving the sword to take off the other arm.

In the blink of an eye, Sasuke drew his katana and stabbed the man through the heart, ending his torment.

"Aww," Suigetsu whined, pouting. "But this dude kills babies. I thought you'd let me have some fun."

"No," Juugo said, long since having ceased weeping to stare ahead blankly. "I kill babies."

"The baby's not dead," Sasuke said, monotone despite the crimson tears leaking down the smooth planes of his cheeks.

As if on cue, Sari began to wail. Sakura looked up at them all, beaming, her palms still glowing green.

"She just got knocked out. She's fine!"

Isamu cried out in relief and scooped the child up. Sai, as unaffected as ever, had already begun to clear up, but paused in front of his easel with a frown.

"It got blood on it."

Bizarrely, Sasuke began to laugh. "Now it's really like Konoha."

* * *

A veritable entourage awaited their return at the edge of the camp that was now Konoha, comprised of the civilians they'd met on the road and the comrades that had escorted them.

The survivors they'd sent as messengers, all able-bodied men, ignored Kakashi's team and peeked around as if they were hiding more villagers behind their backs. As the realization dawned that it was truly only an elderly man and an infant that had returned, Kakashi could see it in the hardening of their faces.

Isamu shook his head slowly, confirming their fears.

"The Bloody Mist," a man muttered, fists clenched at his sides.

Another man - a boy, really, just beginning to sprout a few scraggly hairs on his chin - reached out to pat Sari, lower lip trembling. "We should have known."

Hyuuga Akira stood by passively, but his stiff shoulders showed his true feelings. "What is the meaning of this?" he said to Kakashi.

"I report to the Hokage," Kakashi said, brushing past him.

Akira shifted his weight and put a light hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "I have been instructed to -"

Kakashi shook it off. "I received this mission from the Hokage, and it's her I'll speak to."

Before Akira could object any more, Kakashi walked away and clapped Yamato on the back. "Nice to see you."

"You too," Yamato said. His grin seemed too exuberant for the situation, but he wasn't paying much attention to Kakashi anyway, looking beyond him to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, I'm sorry I missed your birthday, but I think I can make it up to you."

She came up to them, smiling. "Oh, don't worry about that, Yamato-taichou. Sai and Kakashi-sensei both did something nice for me, and that's plenty -"

Yamato cut her off by going behind her, placing a wide palm over her eyes to obscure her vision. "You'll like this surprise, I promise."

He led her forward and Kakashi followed behind. Quickly, he realized what Yamato had done. Kakashi froze in place, transfixed by the scene playing out in front of him, one he had never expected.

Yamato removed his hand, revealing his surprise: Yamanaka Ino and Rock Lee, looking painfully skinny and definitely worse for wear, but alive and standing there grinning like fools.

At first Sakura stood, rooted to the spot, disbelief written all over her face. Then her eyes lit up as bright as the sun in a way they hadn't since the end of the war, and she squealed happily, scrambling forward to tackle them both into the same awkward hug.

"Ino-pig, what -! Lee-san, I thought -" Sakura burst into celebratory tears, peppering them with frantic kisses all over their faces and anywhere she could reach.

"Don't slobber on my boyfriend, you fat whore," Ino said, voice gravelly in a way it hadn't been before, but with a grin fit to bust.

"Boyfriend?" Sakura screeched, pulling back to look at them both in surprise. When Lee's face turned as red as a tomato, Sakura laughed. "Geez, don't let your head pop off, _Hinata_," she said pointedly, patting him on the cheek. "Good for you, but where the hell were you guys? You have no idea what we - I sent poor Kakashi out there every day looking, and Tenten just about lost her mind. Not to mention Shikamaru and Chouji."

"Sorry about that, Forehead," Ino said, extracting herself forcefully from Sakura's too-tight grip. "I guess we overslept a little, huh? But when I woke up, I was weak as a kitten, and I couldn't get out of that weird stuff all around me. I called out until my throat bled, and I had almost given up. Lee found me, though, didn't you, Lee-kun?"

Sakura linked arms with Ino and Lee and led them away, chatting a mile a minute. Yamato watched them go, smiling broadly.

"Maybe in poor taste to do it right here," Kakashi muttered, eyeing the Mist survivors. They were still heartbroken at learning the fates of their peers, staring jealously after Sakura.

Yamato slugged Kakashi in the bicep with his good arm, still grinning. "Worth it, though, right, senpai?"

"Yeah." Kakashi rubbed his chin, feeling his own small smile beneath his mask. "It was worth it."


	5. Chapter 4: Dattebayo!

With the wind still blowing sand in a thick stream through the air, Gaara had a hard time seeing even just a few feet ahead of him. Certainly, they would be reaching Suna within the next few hours and be able to assess the situation. Adjusting his cloak to protect his sore cheeks from the harsh sand, Gaara sighed. The trek home had been a disaster. The sandstorm had made it near impossible to carry the wounded effectively and had led to several deaths on its own. Even his own legs trembled under the strain of exhaustion from having to lift his feet that always sank too deep with every step, threatening to collapse at any second.

"We've got to be close," he heard Temari mutter behind him.

Gaara stopped, signaling for the others to do the same.

"What is it?" Kankuro asked, impatience thick in his voice.

Gaara's hand reached out, until it connected with a wall of sand. Slowly, his fingers dug into it until they hit a harder material.

"We're home."

* * *

Gaara was tired. Every step was met only with more sand, more cocoons and more death. After more than a week wrapped up in the damned jutsu, no one survived. Three feet of sand covered most of his beloved village and salvaging it would be more of an effort than his troops could handle at the time being. What he needed - what they all needed - was a decent night's sleep.

"What do we do?" Temari growled as she kicked sand, cursing when she stubbed her toes on a hidden step.

"There's no choice but to go to Konoha," Gaara sighed. "Inform the men to gather any resources that we can still use. I doubt Konoha is in a much better state."

"Understood."

Temari left without another word, obeying his order promptly.

Gaara walked deeper into the village. At random, he stopped at what he assumed to be the doorstep of a house. Summoning energy he no longer had, he shoved the sand that lied in the door's path until he could force it open.

At first glance, the room was empty, though it did not smell rotten like the previous ones he'd had the misfortune of visiting. It was possible that the inhabitants had been poorer and lived off only jarred and dry food, which hadn't been victim to all kinds of mold.

Peeking in the cupboards confirmed his suspicions. Jars of all kinds filled them, from meat to vegetables and fruits, even water. Feeling the bags under his eyes grow heavier with each move, Gaara hurried to grab a few of the jars. They would suffice for dinner tonight.

"W-Who's there?"

Gaara dropped a jar of tomatoes as he heard the voice and jumped back, cursing himself for wasting precious food.

"Kazekage-sama?" a young girl gasped, arms dropping limp at her side.

At the sight of her, a girl no more than ten years old, Gaara's eyes widened. The child was no ninja, yet had survived?

"Kazekage-sama, it _is_ you!" she burst out happily, tears welling up at the corner of her eyes as she threw herself in his arms. "You didn't abandon us!"

"Akiko, what are you…" A woman appeared in the doorway, eyes as shocked as his as she saw Gaara standing in her kitchen. "Kazekage-sama," she whispered before she dropped to her knees and let her tears flow freely. "Thank goodness, you're here!"

"How did you survive?" Gaara finally said, trembling arms wrapping around the child that still hugged him.

Akiko was alive; he wasn't dreaming. He could feel her warmth, her soft hair, the wetness of her tears on his clothes.

"I don't know. It happened while we were sleeping. We woke up and almost everyone was in those strange things," the mother cried, wiping at her cheeks as more tears came.

"Are there more of you?"

The woman nodded as she sobbed, gathering the strength to stand up and take her daughter in her arms. Quietly, she hugged Akiko and pressed urgent kisses to the child's head, whispering her relief.

"There are more," she finally answered. "We all took shelters in our houses because of the sandstorms that have been out of control the past two weeks. People from the surrounding villages even gathered here after… They didn't know what to do."

Stunned into silence, Gaara managed to crack a smile. They wouldn't be heading to Konoha empty-handed, at the very least. The trek had been worth every painful step.

* * *

The trip to Konoha had been a breeze compared to traveling through Suna's unforgiving sands. Finding survivors had boosted the troops' morale and the rather easygoing trek had only raised it further. Even though Gaara wasn't fond of most of the gossip he heard of Konoha being a haven they couldn't wait to reach, he couldn't help but want to believe in it. As much as he knew they would probably come to a village in ruins like his, he wanted Konoha to stand strong and offer his people the shelter they deserved.

When they finally reached the end of the forest, the last hill that rolled down to their destination, Gaara stopped. The view of tents and empty terrain, even if it had been expected, made his arms go limp and his jaw clench. Whatever cheerfulness he had felt was drained out of him. Instead, he bit down down on his tongue, closing his eyes as he tasted the coppery bitterness of his blood.

The silence that fell behind him made his knees weak and his head lowered to stare at the beautiful grass under his feet. Sighing, he looked up at Temari, surprised to find angry tears running down on her cheeks.

Steeling himself, Gaara straightened and raised his hand. "Keep walking! Konoha is waiting for us."

Raising his chin proudly, Gaara led the way, relieved when Temari and Kankuro followed in his steps.

If they could live in a barren desert for decades, starting anew would be a child's play.

* * *

The sight of Tsunade was yet another blow to Gaara's abused hopefulness. The poor woman was shrunken in the back of her seat, nearly lacking the strength to keep her head up to take a good look at him. A small, weak wave of her hand and the Hyuuga at her side bent down to listen to her low rasping which Gaara could not understand from where he stood with Kankuro and Temari.

"Hokage-sama welcomes you," the Hyuuga said as he bowed. "She is happy to see you have made the trip safely."

With a nod, Gaara walked to Tsunade's chair, standing at her feet. "It is an honor to be back in Konoha, Tsunade-sama."

"How was Suna?" Tsunade breathed out, raising a shaking head to look up at him.

"Buried in the sand, I'm afraid," Gaara sighed. "We need to request your permission to merge our camp with yours, as had been offered in our previous meeting."

"Naruto's friends are forever welcome here," Tsunade said with a smile, eyes sparkling momentarily at the mention of his late friend.

"Have you found survivors?"

Tsunade's eyes lit up and she nodded. "It seems villagers from Water Country have made it through unscathed." She paused to take a few long breaths. "We aren't sure yet why they were never cocooned to begin with."

"Villagers were found in Suna as well, also never under the influence of the jutsu," Gaara answered, chest swelling in mild anticipation.

"Go see Shikamaru," Tsunade said. "I'm sure he'll be able to make something of this. I'll see you again after I have rested."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Gaara replied with a bow. "You have our gratitude for your hospitality."

* * *

For a moment, Gaara watched in silence as Shikamaru observed a map.

"Suna is prone to sandstorms, is it not?" Shikamaru asked as he ran his thumb over his bottom lip.

"It is." Gaara nodded. "For the two weeks we were gone, at the very least, they have been present every day."

"I see," Shikamaru said, leaning over the map to take a closer look at Water's territory.

After a few more seconds of intently staring at the map, Shikamaru smiled and plopped down in the chair behind him, eyes uncommonly bright.

"It seems not all hope is lost, my friend," Shikamaru said as he reached for a cigarette and lit it. "The first thing I figured out was that the ones with high skills in genjutsu woke first. The Hyuuga, mainly, because of their special eyes." He paused to take a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke out. "Next were the powerful shinobi, but it seems also the strong-willed people. People like Sakura and Kakashi woke up almost instantly, didn't even have the time to be cocooned."

Shikamaru offered him a cigarette, but Gaara shook his head and instead took a seat across from the other man.

"Children under the age of three seem to have been unaffected by the genjutsu as well, same as the animals," Shikamaru said as he toyed with his cigarette, watching it with disinterest. "So there are loopholes to this pain-in-the-ass technique."

Gaara's ears perked up. "What are you implying?"

"It seems that..." Shikamaru grinned cheekily. "Under the right circumstances, the jutsu was completely ineffective, regardless of a person's affinity with genjutsu or lack of intelligence to imagine a better world." He took another drag, taking far too long to Gaara's liking. "The survivors from Water Country lived in a heavily foggy area, while your survivors…"

Gaara's eyes widened as he came to the same conclusion. "Live in a constant sandstorm."

"Exactly," Shikamaru said as he leaned back into his chair. "In both instance, the sky and moonlight had been blocked, or at least partially blocked, by meteorological phenomena."

"Then there are a lot more survivors out there than we first thought."

"Bingo."

* * *

Gaara walked towards the tent Kankuro had set up for them, glance skimming over the camp. Even if it was only a weak gathering at this point, it had to be better than being buried under meters of sand, Gaara tried to convince himself.

"Two people are coming!"

Gaara's head whipped around in the direction of the voice, seeing a man running towards him on his right. Frowning, he looked the other way. At the sight of distasteful green and deep purple, his eyes widened.

Survivors, and he knew them.

Along with a few others, he sprinted towards them, skidding to a stop when he finally stood before them.

He was right.

"Ino, Lee," Gaara breathed out.

If not for the putrid smell they gave off and the fact that other people were seeing the duo, Gaara would have wondered if he was hallucinating.

Still, the horribly frail and dirty bodies that stood before him were no trick.

"Gaara," Ino breathed out as she collapsed into his arms, certainly lacking the strength to support herself a second more. "We're home, aren't we?"

"Yes, you are," Gaara said as he gathered her in her arms.

"We made it," Lee whimpered, eyes brimming with tears. "We made it."

One of the men picked Lee up on his back and carried him as they walked back towards the camp.

"I want to see Sakura," Ino rasped, gripping his shirt.

"Sakura is out of the village for the moment," Gaara answered, narrowing his eyes as guilt nipped at him, even if it was in no way his fault. "We will bring you to Shizune."

"They're both alive, then?" she gasped, tugging at his shirt tighter.

"Yes. Tsunade-sama as well."

In his arm's, Ino's light body trembled as she choked out weak sobs.

"I want to see Gai-sensei!" Lee let out, cheerful as he half tried to push himself off his carrier's back.

When he was met with silence, his struggle died down and his body went limp. Cheek on the man's shoulders, Lee's eyes looked up at the sky, the expression in them all too common these days.

* * *

Sitting down in his tent with Temari and Kankuro, Gaara ran his hands through his hair, which he noticed just now had grown too long and desperately needed a cut. Sighing, he stared at a wall of the tent, annoyed even by the orange color of it.

"What are we going to do now?" Temari finally asked.

"You think we're gonna go back to _Suna,_ now?" Kankuro snapped, breaking the twig he had been toying with.

"I didn't say that," Temari growled back, knocking the pieces of wood out of Kankuro's hands. "I just want to know what our plan is."

"It's obvious what it is!"

"Cut it out," Gaara sighed.

Immediately, his two siblings shut their mouths and settled their gaze on him.

"Do we really have a choice?" Gaara said.

"No," Temari answered, sitting straighter.

"This isn't home," Kankuro said, though he clearly lacked conviction.

"Yes, this isn't home." Gaara nodded as he looked at his brother. "But what are we going to do at home? We can't grow anything and the only reliable source of water is jutsu. We can't go back there, not yet at the very least."

Kankuro lowered his head. "I don't want to abandon home."

"We are not abandoning Suna," Gaara reassured. "Our place remains in the sand, but for the time being, it is too hostile an environment."

Kankuro and Temari nodded quietly.

Gaara stared at the meager lunch that had been left untouched in the middle of their circle. Three bowls of okayu. Okayu was all they had been offered since their arrival and Gaara had to remind himself that the lack of proper food couldn't be blamed on Konoha.

"We will remain here until the situation is stable enough," Gaara said as he picked up his bowl. Kankuro and Temari imitated him. "There is nothing else we can do. Konoha has been generous enough to share shelter and food with us, so we must repay them."

While they chewed on their rice, Kankuro and Temari nodded again, though the light in their eyes seemed to fade.

"We will provide for this village as we would for our own, help it grow back into its former state as gratitude for what they have done for us." Gaara paused to shove a spoonful of gruel into his mouth, swallowing it quickly. "Inform everyone that they are to obey Hokage-sama as they would obey me, to work and protect Konoha and their inhabitants as they would do in Suna. For the time being, this is our home and we will act as such."

Again, Temari and Kankuro nodded, expressing none of the revolt they both obviously felt.

"I will inform Hokage-sama of this after our meal."

* * *

Gaara stood before Hyuuga Ko, who, as always, guarded the entrance of the Hokage's tent. "I want to speak to Hokage-sama."

It seemed that during the day, this tent served as the village's brain and headquarters, until night came and Tsunade retreated to the Nara estate, newly established as her personal housing and where any large meetings where hosted.

Ko nodded and led him inside, where Tsunade was sitting at her table again. Next to where her arm lay, Gaara could see a bowl containing the remnants of her meal. Okayu, as everyone else.

"Hokage-sama," Ko called.

Tsunade started as she woke up, rubbing her eyes as she glanced up at them. "Gaara, come sit," she greeted, voice a little healthier and louder than in their previous meeting.

Gaara obeyed and sat on the chair across from hers.

"What did you come see me for?"

"To speak of the matters concerning my village," Gaara said.

"You don't need to be so formal with me," Tsunade chuckled, leaning her head on her fist. "What do you need?"

"We don't need anything," Gaara said, shaking his head. "I am here to offer you our manpower to use as you see fit. You have given us shelter and food at no cost, so I must repay you."

"It was the least I could do," Tsunade replied, a small smile on her old, dry lips.

"It is also the least we can do," Gaara said with a nod.

Tsunade sighed and stretched in her chair, joints popping loudly. "We're using a large part of our workforce to cut wood right now, in order to build proper buildings. Still, the progress is slow."

"Kankuro and Temari are currently informing every one of my men that they are to obey you as they would obey me. Use them and myself as you see fit."

"Tell half of them to join in the wood gathering then," Tsunade said with a nod, sounding relieved.

"Right away," Gaara said with a quick nod. "Is there anything else we can help with?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something else soon enough," Tsunade replied, straightening in her chair. Instantly, some of her years seemed to fade away. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure."

Gaara stood and bowed to the Hokage before spinning on his heels and exiting the tent.

* * *

Suna's troops' arrival along with the news of more survivors that they brought had greatly livened up the camp. Everywhere Gaara walked, the previously empty and tired faces had turned jovial and hopeful, a change that Gaara was all too thankful for. The grimness of the past few weeks had started to drag his shoulders down and burdened his every step. Now that he could offer his people a decent, even if meager, shelter and a spark of hope, Gaara could finally breathe.

"Dinner is served!" Chouji shouted eagerly as he started passing plates in their circle.

The meal was modest: udon with a handful of a flaccid vegetables that were no longer so fresh, and, to everyone's joy, their portion of a hundred and fifty grams of beef. It was almost nothing, but everyone around him was cheering loudly as their received their plates.

In order to celebrate their arrival, as well as the discovery of more survivors and a large herd of cattle, two cows had been slaughtered. Their flesh now served to feed the two thousand and five hundred people that populated the camp. Although he disliked to rejoice over such a negligible amount of meat, his mouth watered when he caught a whiff of its scent. Fresh meat was becoming a rarity now.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Sakura cheered from his side. "Let's dig in!"

Her words were taken as seriously as if they had been orders. Even Gaara went straight for the piece of beef and closed his eyes in bliss when the juice of it burst on his tongue.

"Why just this lame strip of meat?!" Suigetsu cried out as he held it before his eyes, watching it hungrily. "Would killing a few more cows really be that bad? I'm starving!"

Without further ado, he bit into the meat and whimpered in bittersweet pleasure. At his side, Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura laughed wholeheartedly at Suigetsu's antics, even cracking a wide smile before she sunk her teeth in the meat.

Gaara glanced down at the piece of meat, feeling his hunger return with a vengeance as he watched the juices drip from it. Chouji would never overcook meat. Even with so little to flavor it, it was perfect. Another small bite of it proved him absolutely right a second time.

Just as he swallowed his bite, Gaara could see Sakura picking at her meat, favoring her vegetables instead. "Is something wrong with your beef?"

"No, not at all," Sakura hurried to say, smiling brightly at him. "I just think it would be better if Ino had it."

Without another word, she placed the undesired food in Ino's plate.

"You're crazy, Forehead," Ino grumbled as she chewed on her own piece of meat.

"You need it a lot more than I do, Pig," Sakura scoffed.

"Well, you're right about that!" Ino chuckled as she brought the extra meat to her lips. "I need to fill my curves back in!"

"Ino-chan shouldn't worry about that," Lee chimed in, half of his plate already emptied. "I will always find her beautiful."

"Aw, hear that, Forehead," Ino cooed, cupping her reddening cheeks. "What a catch he is."

Lee's cheeks were quick to take on the same color as Ino's and he lowered his eyes to his lap, hurrying to shove more food in his mouth.

Sakura giggled and flicked a strand of Ino's hair. "Modesty was never your thing, was it?"

Kakashi leaned closer to Sakura from her right, placing his hand on the ground near her left hip. "Look who's speaking."

Scowling, Sakura shoved him away. "Mind your own business."

While the chatter continued around him, Gaara was satisfied quietly chewing the rest of his meal, enjoying the cheerful energy that filled the camp for the rest of the dinner.

* * *

Gaara sighed as he glanced down at his cards. A two of hearts, a four of clubs, and a five of spades. With the goal of reaching twenty-one, he was certain to lose with this trio. Silently, he glanced at Kakashi, who was sitting on his left. Just like him, Kakashi was quiet and focused on his cards.

"Your move, Gaara," Sai called, fulfilling his role of dealer perfectly with his unreadable face..

"Stand," Gaara said.

"Hit," Kakashi let out, reaching for the card that Sai was quick to hand him. He looked down at his cards and sighed, dropping them to ground. A seven, a six and a jack, all of hearts. "Bust."

Yamato laughed at his side and shook his head. "Hit."

While Yamato took his new card, Kakashi glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"What's with all the hostility tonight, senpai?" Yamato sighed as he placed his card between his fingers.

"I'm jealous," Kakashi huffed.

"Stand," Sasuke chuckled as he glanced at Kakashi. "You, jealous? Never heard of that before."

"I never did peg you as the jealous type," Sai chimed in as he picked a new card for himself. "How surprising."

"Hit," Gaara said.

A small sigh of relief escaped his lips when he received a six of spades. Total seventeen, not so bad now.

Kakashi took his new cards from Sai without saying a word.

"Hit," Yamato said. "So what are you jealous about anyway?"

"You got Sakura a better birthday present than I did," Kakashi mumbled, bending the corners of his cards.

"Well, what did you get her?" Yamato asked while Sasuke picked a new card.

Sasuke dropped his cards face-first. A two, a jack, and a nine, all of spades for a perfect twenty-one.

Gaara chuckled to himself when he saw the matching cards. Sasuke and Kakashi had had a knack for picking all the spades and hearts respectively in this game.

"An orgasm," Kakashi said casually while he observed Sasuke's cards.

Sai's hands hesitated as he placed his own cards down, also a twenty-one with an ace of spades and a king of clubs.

Yamato's eyes narrowed as he looked a Kakashi, until he burst out laughing and patted Kakashi on the back. "Great joke, senpai, great joke."

"Who says he's joking," Sasuke chuckled as he took the two new cards from Sai's hand.

Yamato's eyes went wide as he stared at Kakashi.

Gaara watched Kakashi and Yamato closely, anticipating Kakashi's reply. There was a part of Gaara that wanted to add on Sasuke's reply, tell them that Kakashi wasn't the kind to joke, but he held his tongue.

Uncertain, Yamato turned to Kakashi. Sitting cross-legged with his cheek his in his palm, Kakashi smiled broadly - as broad as a smile under a mask could be, though having the two-eyed version of his eye smile was entertaining by itself.

"I'm just messing with him," Sasuke sighed. "Don't look at me like that. We all know you wouldn't lay a finger on Sakura, ever."

Kakashi was eyeing Sasuke, eyes slightly narrowed and back suddenly a little straighter.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind a little bit of female company after all I've been through," Yamato said, breaking the tension as he laughed. "How about you, Gaara? I'm sure you agree."

Gaara looked away from them and focused on his cards instead, cheeks flushing a little.

"You could answer me at least," Yamato muttered.

"I don't think he _can_ answer," Sasuke cut in.

Cheeks burning brighter, Gaara looked up at Sasuke to see him grinning like a wolf. "Can _you_ answer?"

"Yes," Sasuke answered simply, his poise never faltering.

"Well, I'm sure _you_ agree with me then, senpai?" Yamato asked as he turned to Kakashi.

"Maybe _I'm _not late for once," Kakashi said, teasing and grinning as he flipped the ace of hearts between his fingers.

Yamato's shoulders dropped drastically and he sighed. "You were always smooth, huh."

"I have never experienced sexual intercourse either," Sai added, probably trying to ease Gaara's pain.

Gaara gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze, enduring his embarrassment in silence.

* * *

Standing under the first harsh rays of the sun of the year, Gaara watched in silence as a person he didn't know the name of engraved new letters in the Memorial Stone. At his sides and behind him stood every ninja that currently lived in Konoha, all in the same morbid silence. Gaara glanced down at his shirt's sleeve, lips stretching in a thin, hard line. You did not wear blue at a funeral…

Yet, everybody wore all kinds of colors. Most of them still wore their war uniform, while a few had been granted new clothes, some even a flashy red. Only a small number had been able to be clad in the traditional black.

When Gaara looked up again, a new name was clearly visible on the stone. Inhaling deeply, he gritted his teeth, tipping his head back as tears threatened to form in his eyes.

"We are here today to honor the memories of our friends and comrades," Hyuuga Hiashi said, his voice reaching all the way to the last rows of mourners. "Family and lovers, children and parents," he continued, tangling his hands on his stomach as he lowered his head. "To thank them for the sacrifice they offered so we could stand here today, alive."

Behind Gaara, cries and whimpers erupted.

"While we can never make up for what they have lost, we can remember them and make sure that they live on in our memories, as the beloved friends, family, and comrades that they were." Pausing, he glanced at the Hokage, who nodded. "Hokage-sama invites those of you who have brought gifts to come and deposit them by the Memorial Stone."

A small line slowed formed before the Hyuuga. Only a month after Madara's incomprehensible destruction, gathering mementos for the departed was no easy task.

"Hyuuga Neji."

Hinata's whisper was barely audible even though Gaara stood rather close to the stone. Carefully, she placed a beautifully wrapped package by the cenotaph before making place for the next person in line.

"Inuzuka Kiba," Tenten said, loud and proud, as she placed a bone on the grass before the stone. "You dog."

As she walked away, a small, blonde woman took her place and put a flower next to the bone. "Namiashi Raidou."

Suigetsu stepped in the woman's place as she moved away and threw a pebble down. "Karin, you whiny ass bitch."

His speech raised whispers quickly and a few of the disapproving comments reached Gaara's ears. A small smile grew on his lips as he watched Suigetsu walk away, not missing the scrunched up face and beginning of tears forming in Suigetsu's eyes.

"Mitarashi Anko," Sai said as placed what Gaara guessed was a drawing of a snake.

By the time Sakura and Kakashi's turns came, the sun had started to lower in the sky. Although it was still bright, its heat had started to dissipate and many were huddling together for a little more warmth.

Kakashi walked up to the stone and seemed to hesitate for a second, his last step faltering briefly. Visibly swallowing a lump in his throat, Kakashi knelt down to place a piece of green fabric on top of the pile of gifts. "Maito Gai."

Sakura stood next to him and knelt down to take his hand in hers, offering him a weak smile as she helped him up. Still holding onto his hand, Sakura retrieved a headband with the Alliance's insignia from her pocket.

As she bent down to place the headband in the pile, the air around Gaara seemed to still. As if everyone held their breath as they watched Sakura, the wind died down along with its whispers. The clanging of the headband's metal seemed to resonate, no doubt tugging at everyone's heartstrings along with Gaara's.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Gaara's jaw clenched as he registered the words. For a moment, his sight darkened, focusing on nothing but images of his best friend's overwhelming presence. His smile, his cheers, his happiness.

The sound of Sakura sobbing pulled Gaara back to reality. Wrapped in Kakashi's arms, she cried freely, uninhibited even under the crowd's gaze. Ever so softly, Kakashi's shoulders seemed to shake, in time with her whimpers.

Soon enough, distant friends of Naruto joined in, crying along with Sakura and whoever would shed tears for their fallen hero.

When a drop of water seeped into his collar and wet the skin under it, Gaara realized his own eyes were brimming with tears as well.

Only now did he realize that Naruto was not going to crash this party, shouting obnoxiously his apology for being late. Ichiraku Ramen would never prosper the same again. Naruto's face would never be carved along with those of the other Hokage.

Gaara no longer had a best friend.

Gritting his teeth against the pain that devoured his insides, Gaara shut his eyes and turned his head.

"Thousands of enemies may come, but we will stand."

Once again, Sakura's voice brought his focus back to the present moment.

Although brokenly and offbeat, she appeared to be singing.

"Where there is a strong will, there is a way," Sakura sang, silencing the cries of the crowd. "With the Will of Fire, what do we fear at all? Nothing in the world shall threaten us."

Slowly, the ninja of the Hidden Leaf followed her lead, singing the words in time with Sakura. Kakashi joined in as well, tightening his hold on her.

"Never fear, never despair."

Even Sasuke, who had stayed discreet at Gaara's side under the leers of the crowd, began singing. Like everyone around him, his chest swelled with air as his voice boomed and sang proudly, wholeheartedly.

As they heard Sasuke's voice join theirs, Gaara could see the people on Sasuke's side scowling at him.

"Go on until the very end. Instead of surviving shamefully, fall admirably, brave and strong."

Never before had Gaara wished to know the lyrics of a song so much.

"For the Will of Fire will burn brighter thanks to you."

Feeling the beat die down, Gaara inhaled deeply before he shouted, "Dattebayo!"

"Dattebayo!" the crowd echoed.


	6. Chapter 5: Queen of Hearts

**Authors' Note: **Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, follows, etc. We will try and keep the update pace steady. :)

* * *

Comforted by Kakashi's warmth, Sakura sighed as she stared up at the stars. From the position of the moon, she could tell it was well past two in the morning. Shivering faintly, she snuggled closer to him and tucked her head under his chin. It was officially spring now that April had started, but the chill in the wind was slow to warm up.

"Can't sleep?"

Sakura nuzzled his neck, enjoying the warmth that the friction created on her cheek. "Yeah."

"You should try anyway. Crossing the mountains to Iwa won't be an easy task," Kakashi whispered while one of his hands rubbed her back.

"It's not like I mean to stay awake," Sakura grumbled as she pulled back to watch his face. His eyes were watching her, relaxed. "You're awake too, anyway."

"You kept me awake." After glancing around them, Kakashi pulled his mask down. "You keep squirming around."

"I think it has to do with how quiet the woods are," Sakura sighed, running her fingers along his jaw. "It's been a week and we've barely heard a peep."

Kakashi lowered his lips to hers, placing small pecks on them as he held her closer. Sakura felt the muscles in her neck soften and her head tilted back as she responded to Kakashi's affectionate kisses in the same manner.

Wrapped in their single sleeping bag, it was a given that they would have to squeeze together for space, but Sakura scooted a little closer nonetheless to tangle her legs with Kakashi's and pressed her chest to his. Under the fingers she had placed on his neck, she could feel his heart beating, strong and steady.

Against her lips, his own stretched into a smile. One of his hands came up to cup her cheek, his thumb caressing the skin with slow, gentle brushes.

For a while, Sakura remained still, simply watching Kakashi's quiet eyes looking back into hers.

"You know what I miss?" Sakura whispered, tugging at his sweater.

"A bed?"

Sakura shook her head, grinning. "Regular showers. You smell!"

"You think you're any better?" Kakashi chuckled, raising one eyebrow.

"I _know _I am," Sakura said while she pushed him away, a playful glint in her eyes.

Kakashi took part in her little game, wrestling silently with her in the limited space they had, until he'd had enough and trapped her in a strong embrace. Again, he kissed her and Sakura's struggle died down as he applied more pressure, moving his lips against hers with more insistence.

When Kakashi pulled away, Sakura extended her neck to follow his lips.

"This is quite a mess we're in, hm?" Kakashi sighed, pressing his forehead against hers.

Sakura inhaled slowly before expelling the air in a soft sigh.

"I know," she whispered slowly, snuggling closer to him while her eyes slid shut. "But we're gonna find a way to fix it all, right? We'll have a village again soon, like before."

"We will," Kakashi said, two fingers tilting her chin up.

Ever so faintly, he brushed his lips against hers, holding her tight against him as they waited for the night to end.

* * *

Climbing the mountains of Rock proved to be a daunting task, as Kakashi had predicted. Until recently, the effects of malnourishment had been minimal, but now Sakura could feel the full force of it. Well-fed and in her usual condition, gluing her feet to the steep wall of a mountain demanded only a small portion of her chakra reserves. In her current state, though, it used up a much larger chunk and Sakura knew they would have to choose safer paths soon if they didn't want to fall down the distance they had already climbed.

Sakura halted her steps, muscles jumping as an open hand appeared inches from her face. A glance up allowed her to see it belonged to Sasuke. A little higher, above a flat rock a few meters high, she could see the others already standing and waiting for her.

"You're slow," Sasuke said. "Take my hand."

Pursing her lips, Sakura obeyed, lacking the energy to bicker. He was right. As soon as her palm brushed his, his fingers closed around it and he hauled her up with him as he leapt to a small, leveled part of the mountain.

"We'll scout ahead a little," Kakashi said. "You two rest a bit while we find a safe route."

As he turned to walk away, Sakura was tempted to follow, but the dismissive smile Kakashi gave her stilled her movements. She was slowing them down too much and they needed to find a safer path for _her_. In bitter silence, she watched as the rest of the group left, splitting each in their own direction.

"Sakura."

"Hm?" Sakura turned around to look at Sasuke again, only to find him offering her a piece of beef jerky. "That's yours."

"You look like you'll faint," Sasuke sighed as he placed the meat in her hand. "Just eat it."

For a second, Sakura inspected the dried beef before she shoved it back in Sasuke's hands and jogged to the edge of the rock, feeling the telltale churn of the stomach and the accumulating saliva in the back of her throat. Soon enough, the remnants of her previous meal splattered down on a rock several meters below. Sakura winced at the sight and refused to face Sasuke again just yet.

"You didn't push yourself that hard," she heard him say. "Are you sick?"

"Just a stomach bug," Sakura muttered as she wiped her mouth.

When she finally did decide to turn around, Sasuke's eyes were still trained on her. Quietly, he walked towards her and she felt her thighs and abdomen tighten as she watched him. Once he was close enough, he stopped and looked down at her. If it hadn't been for the fall awaiting her if she took one too many steps back, Sakura would have moved away.

"You need to tell me if something is wrong," Sasuke said firmly, hands resting in his pockets.

Sakura scoffed, eyes narrowing. "I'm the medic. I can handle myself."

"We found a safe way."

Recognizing Kakashi's voice, Sakura's head jerked up to look at him. Nodding, she headed towards him, bumping her shoulder into Sasuke's as she walked past him.

"Let's go then."

Reaching the top of the mountain had left Sakura breathless. For one, the hike had been an excruciating two and a half days long. For two, the view on Earth Country. The pretty sights weren't lacking in Sakura's memories, but the mountains of Earth were something else entirely. Atop the highest one, the horizon was filled with only more rock, a sea of nothing but more mountains of which the tips reminded her of a needle bed.

"You're alright to go down, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, turning his head towards her from where he stood at the edge of the cliff.

They'd found a ledge that slanted down in a near perfect vertical line. Using chakra to run down its wall, they would reach the halfway point to the bottom within a few minutes. Sakura looked down again, trying to measure the distance to the next flat bed of rocks before she nodded.

"Yeah, it should be no big deal," Sakura answered.

"Well, off we go then!" Suigetsu cheered as he ran past her and right down the cliff, shouting in excitement as he zoomed down.

Sakura bit back a smirk and followed, sucking on the inside of her bottom lip as adrenaline rushed through her system and made her heart pump. Gravity did most of the work for her, accelerating her pace considerably with each second that passed. Just when a sound of exhilaration built in the back of her throat, Sakura felt her foot slip off the surface, the chakra under it vanishing.

Eyes widening as she realized she really was falling, Sakura gasped and flipped in mid-air. "Kakashi!"

Immediately, Kakashi's hand closed around her left wrist while Sasuke's fingers grabbed her right. When they finally slowed to a stop, they pulled her up between them so Kakashi could take her in his arms.

"What happened?" Kakashi rasped as he cradled her head with one hand. Sakura winced as his fingers pulled at the knots in her hair. "You said you were fine!"

Sakura's eyes wandered down, where Suigetsu was standing and flailing his arms, screaming something she couldn't understand over the sound of her erratic heartbeat.

Kakashi tugged at her hair to get her attention. "Tell me what happened!"

Blinking quickly, Sakura tried to refocus her attention on him, feeling guilt nip at her as she noted the panic in his eyes.

"I don't know," she breathed out. "I just lost control of my chakra for a second."

"You _lost_ control of it?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

Sakura remained silent, staring at Kakashi's dirty flak jacket to try and ignore the shame that washed over her.

"I'll carry her," Sasuke finally said. "I have the most chakra left so her weight won't be too much of a burden to me."

After a moment's hesitation, Kakashi helped Sasuke place Sakura on his back. Biting the inside of her cheek, Sakura wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck while he took hold of her legs. Being passed around like a fragile doll at her age was deplorable.

Even when they had reached Suigetsu, Sasuke didn't let her down. Instead, he carried her while he walked on the slanted path that Sai, Juugo and the others were following a few feet ahead of them.

By the time the sun was setting, Sakura was still resting on Sasuke's back. The others had gone off ahead, jumping down large distances to search for a spot to settle down for the night. In the meantime, Sasuke walked, using only the paths that were safe to use without chakra since he was running low.

No matter how many times he said he was fine, Sakura was convinced otherwise by the sweat she could see trickling down the back of his neck. Wincing as some of his hair tickled her cheek, she sighed and placed her chin on his shoulder.

"You need to eat more," Sasuke said when the rest of their group was out of their sight.

Sakura only grunted in response. When one of Sasuke's feet slipped, her chest hit his back roughly and she whimpered, surprised by the pain that shot through one of her breasts.

"Are you okay?" she asked, shifting her weight to the other side of her body. "You should let me down."

Sasuke only hummed in annoyance and kept walking.

Soon enough, his steps came to a halt and Sakura raised her eyes off the ground to see the reason why. At the sight of more cocoons, her stomach dropped and she sighed, pressing her forehead on Sasuke's shoulder. "More of them."

"It seems so," Sasuke replied, adjusting his grip on her as his fingers became too slippery.

"There are none of them inside the cave," Sai said as he emerged from the opening of a tunnel. Sakura's head shot up. "Only outside."

Kakashi dropped down from a ledge above him and nodded. "The situation is the same in the upper level."

Slowly, Sakura's lips stretched in a bright smile. "That means there's survivors."

"Almost certainly." Kakashi nodded.

A short laugh escaped Sakura's throat, the joy swelling in her chest making her forget the dread that had overwhelmed her seconds before.

* * *

When Iwagakure finally came into sight, Sakura couldn't help herself. In the large distance from the mountains to the village, they had not found a single survivor, which hinted that they had most likely gathered at their home once they had come out of the tunnels. Biting her lip in anticipation, Sakura started jogging, accelerating gradually unconsciously. Behind her, she could feel everyone follow and the air took on the feel of their impatience.

As she set foot through the gate, Sakura lips twitched into a smile.

"Is someone there?" she shouted, hands cupped around her mouth to help her voice reach further. "We're here to help! Come out!"

Seconds later, her eyes widened as several doors opened. With every new door that opened, Sakura's chest swelled greatly as she inhaled sharply, mouth agape as she remained silent. As dozens of people poured out of the buildings, her whole body trembled and a relieved chuckle left her lips.

Whispers rose from the newly formed crowd and the sound might as well have been a miracle to Sakura's ears. Kakashi's hand landed on her shoulder as he stood at her side. Looking up at him through tearful eyes, she beamed, and his broad smile only made her grin bigger. Sakura turned back towards the rest of the group, giggling like a little girl when she saw the awe in the rest of the groups' eyes, even Sasuke's and Sai's.

There was still hope, for every one of them. Life could become normal again.

"Are you alone?" a man breathed out as he stepped forward, twisting his hands.

Sakura blinked while Kakashi nodded.

"Were you expecting anyone else?" he asked.

"We…" The man hesitated and lowered his head. "We haven't heard of a single ninja since they left for war. Not even Tsuchikage-sama."

Immediately, the air weighed down on Sakura's shoulders as her sight filled with the darkening faces of the civilians. All around, some of them broke into sobs and called for the names of those they longed to see return home.

"Not a single one?" Kakashi's pale eyebrows bunched together. "They left the battlefield over a month ago."

"They should have been here within two weeks," Sasuke pointed out as he stood by her. "Something must have happened to them on the way here."

"Then…" The man paused, wringing his hands harder as tears gathered in his eyes. "You're not here to escort them?"

When Kakashi and Sakura remained silent, Sasuke stepped forward, emanating all the confidence and calm they couldn't.

"No," he answered sharply. "We come from Konoha to gather any surviving civilians."

"What happened out there?" another shouted, shoving through the crowd to face Sasuke. "What are these cocoons and why were people just standing there like they were hypnotized?"

Never letting his strict facade crack, Sasuke explained what they understood of the Infinite Tsukuyomi as well as the outcome of the war. As much as they could, the survivors of Iwa rejoiced that they were no longer in danger, but the mystery surrounding their fellow villagers drowned most of their joyful expressions

"Why are you here, then?" a woman asked, cradling her baby tighter to her body as she frowned. "If you aren't bringing my husband back, what do you want from us?"

"We are here to take you back to Konoha," Sasuke said, unaffected by the angry whispers and scowls that erupted. "As agreed before we left the battlefield, we are regrouping in Konoha and taking everyone we find there. Suna has already joined us."

If Kakashi's count was right, the number of survivors from Iwa amounted up to about four hundred. Although the task of escorting them all home had first seemed impossible, it turned out to be quite the opposite. The vast majority of them were miners and knew their way around the mountains like the back of their hand. Even convincing them to follow them back to Konoha had been effortless as their food reserves had been running low and their fear high. The precious minerals they had found would be more useful than they could imagine.

Even while in the tunnels of the border mountain, the civilians had agreed to work to gather resources that would be invaluable to Konoha. While Kakashi sealed the last of what they had mined and that the carts couldn't carry in a scroll, Sakura ventured a little further in the tunnel.

Just a small distance away, Sakura couldn't take a step further as the smell that invaded her nose made her gag. Clamping a hand over her nose, Sakura turned away as she bent down to throw up yet another meal.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi didn't take long to follow her.

"I know," he'd said callously, having no doubt smelled it long before her. "We'll need to find another path."

Just as quietly, he retreated back towards the miners who hadn't yet seen the horror that laid ahead. Although he had tried to save them from the horrendous sight, they nonetheless walked past him, ignoring his warning.

"I'm sorry," Sai whispered as he stood by her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes as they were unable to look away. Several meters ahead, barely visible under the meager light of their torches, she could see a pile of dead bodies. From the wide open eyes and the broken pieces of the carts that the Rock survivors had used to carry them, Sakura recognized the sleepers. Some of them were buried under the rocks, where a wall had collapsed, while others had simply rotted, exposed. Some of the corpses also wore headbands, letting her know not only the sleepers had perished in the disaster.

"Hayate-kun!"

A woman ran past them, clutching her baby as she dropped to her knees by a corpse that bore heavy evidence of its advanced decay. Easily, Sakura recognized her as the woman who had asked them why they had come all the way to Iwa if not to bring back her husband.

"Hayate!" she wailed, balancing the baby in one of her arms so she could brush the corpse's long hair away from his face. Immediately, she sobbed louder and jerked her hand away. "You can't die, please!"

Closing her eyes to hold back her tears, Sakura could hear the others leaving, but she didn't move.

Not until Sasuke's hand grabbed her arm and pulled her with him.

"We found more in another tunnel," he said quietly. "We're taking a different route."

"More of them?" Sakura gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried in vain to free her arm from Sasuke's grasp. "Another collapse?"

Sasuke sighed and tugged at her arm to force her to follow his pace. "No, it seems they got lost in the tunnels and died of dehydration. They didn't have enough resources to make it back to start with."

Sakura's heels dug in the ground and she stopped.

Sasuke turned around to face her, eyes harsh as he frowned. "We need to go."

"They _all _died then? All of them?" Sakura whispered, arms dropping limp at her side. "That's why none of the civilians had seen a ninja before us."

Unable to hold it back, Sakura choked out a sob and covered her mouth with her palm, giving up on retaining her composure.

"Sakura."

Sakura ignored his call, only crying louder as she imagined how much the Iwa nin had to suffer without ever having the opportunity to see their home again.

When Sasuke's arm wrapped around her, Sakura jumped, suddenly mute.

"Get a hold of yourself, Sakura," he whispered. "The civilians need your help."

Swallowing the last of her sobs, Sakura nodded and followed him, looking ahead to where Kakashi waited for them, exhaustion evident in his every feature, from his dark eyes to his sloppy posture.

"Are you okay?" he asked when they walked with him.

Sakura forced a nod, lips pursed tightly as she bit back another sob. "I'll be fine."

* * *

Knowing that they were so close to Konoha and hadn't lost a single survivor on the way brought a big smile to Sakura's lips as she walked through the ragtag camp they had set up for the night. Although she could see the relief on the civilians' faces, the pain behind it was just as obvious. Trying to comfort herself, she thought of how they would be safe and much better off in Konoha than in Iwa.

April was almost over and May was just around the corner, already announcing itself with the sudden hike in temperature that was all too welcomed by everyone.

Looking up at the moon, Sakura's lips twisted in a half-hearted smile. Two whole months had passed since the end of the war. Time had flown by. Oddly enough, a new routine was settling in and life gradually felt normal again. Adapting to change so quickly, seemingly a given trait to humans, was both a gift and a curse. Guilt would always nip at her, scolding her for never spending enough time mourning and hurting for what had been lost.

A quick flash of Naruto smiling or being his usual buffoon self was always her mind's first punishment for being so selfish. If it wasn't enough, then she would remember Ino's heart wrenching cries as she mourned her sensei.

Most of all, the backlash of her inner self came when she forgot that her parents had perished as well.

Sighing, Sakura looked up at the moon. It was getting late, and she was only all too happy that summer was close. She was tired of the latent spring cold. Grinning to herself, Sakura realized that it meant two months had passed by since she had lost her virginity.

And lost it to no one else than Kakashi.

"_No sixes, eh?"_

_Kakashi's eyes were unfocused, his mind certainly distracted by the abundance of dangers and tension surrounding them. The real battle of this war would break out tomorrow. As far as Sakura knew, tonight might be her last night in this world, but the thought worried her little. With her sensei at her side, keeping her mind focused, she could set aside the fear and sins she knew would come._

"_Go fish," Kakashi said, smiling back at her._

_Without a word, Sakura picked a new card from the pile. A four of hearts._

"_Threes?" he asked._

_A quick scan of her cards revealed she had two of them. The heart and the spade._

"_Guess what one of them it is," Sakura said, glancing at him with a weak grin._

_Under his gaze, she could feel her heart's pace picking ever so slightly. As unreadable as his eye was to anyone else, she could see through it, and he could see through hers without a doubt._

"_The one on your left is the heart," he answered, watching her._

_Sakura's lips stretched in a shy smile as she stood on her knees, crossing the small distance to stand before her friend. "A three of hearts for your mask."_

"_A three of hearts for my mask," he said with nod, lowering his mask._

_In the same way she couldn't tear her eyes from his, his eye remained locked with hers while he exposed his skin only for her view._

_Swallowing the last of her hesitance, she pushed the hand that held his cards away so she could sit in his lap and wrap her arms around his neck, keeping her own cards hidden behind his head._

_Kakashi didn't protest. Just as quietly and soundlessly, his hands moved to rest on her thighs, leaving the cards forgotten on the floor._

"_What about the other one?" Sakura asked as she tilted her head, peeking at the card from the side of his head._

_Innocently, she had leaned forward an inch more, crossing the friendly distance between their lips into intimate territory._

"_The three of spades," he said, still as a statue, awaiting his cue._

_Sakura nodded, letting the cards slip through her fingers so she could ghost the pads of her fingertips over his neck. "That one's gonna cost you."_

"_I think we knew that before you even set foot in my tent, Sakura."_

_The grin on his lips sealed what was already a done deal. Carefully, Sakura pressed her lips to his, heart leaping into her throat when she felt him respond. So that was what all the rave was about._

"_Let me," Kakashi whispered, cupping both her cheeks to still her clumsy movements._

_Sakura's cheeks burned, but she obeyed in silence, reassured by the perfect calm Kakashi's eye showed. Ever so slowly, he caught her lips between his, giving her a moment to savor the kiss before he pressed his thumb to her cheek to make her part her lips a little more._

_Startled by the unusual sensation, Sakura flinched when his tongue brushed against her lip, but his hands prevented her from moving away. Ignoring her insignificant hesitance, he let his tongue rub against hers, teaching it its new dance with a soothing gentleness._

_Instinctively, her hands reached for his, demanding their support as foreign sensations assaulted her belly. A soft whimper escaped her throat and immediately she could feel him smirk against her lips._

"_Do I need another card to take off that jacket?" he asked, tone light and joking, as he freed one of his hands so he could play with the zipper of her flak jacket._

"_We can figure that out later," Sakura whispered, unable to keep the blood from rushing to her face._

_Needing no more encouragement, his fingers pulled the zipper down, eyes watching her own carefully for any sign of fear._

_She'd just undressed in front of him a few hours prior. Did he really expect her to be a sissy now?_

_As soon as the first garment was removed, his movements lost some of their patience and courtesy. The sweater was gone quickly enough, leaving her in only her mesh shirt and bindings when he embraced her and pressed her body against his torso. On her chest, she could feel his breath fan out, heavier and faster than usual._

_When she didn't act, Kakashi resumed undressing her, removing her shirt and bindings with precise and confident tugs and pulls._

_Once her breasts were finally free, they paused, eyeing each other before they came to a silent agreement. Quickly, his mouth caught one of her nipples and suckled, causing her to jerk in his arms, squealing at the jolt of electricity that ran through her nerves and made her arch her back._

"_Calm down," Kakashi chastised while he nipped at her breast._

_Sakura, quivering slightly in his hold, did her best to obey._

_While he switched his attention to her other nipple, sucking on it hard enough to tear a whimper from her throat, he removed his jacket. His mouth relented only when he had to pull his sweater and undershirt over his head, leaving him in the same state of undress she was in._

"_Lie down," he rasped._

_Swallowing hard, Sakura obeyed once more, lying on her back in front of him and bringing her fidgeting fingers to cover her lips._

_Certainly knowing better than to pay attention to her timid antics, Kakashi hovered over her to plant a series of open-mouthed kisses from her neck down to the waistband of her pants, sparing her a smoldering look before he tugged at them mercilessly, taking her underwear with them without giving her a second to protest._

_When his lips connected with her sex, Sakura's limbs jumped once more, her hands immediately grabbing fistfuls of his hair, seemingly pulling too hard at it if she could trust his grunt. "Wait!"_

"_Cut the bullshit, Sakura," Kakashi growled, resuming his action._

_Sakura relaxed her limbs, letting them fall back on the ground with an indignant scoff. Though when his tongue rubbed a slow circle on her clit, she bit her lip, thighs jerking as heat flared in her lower abdomen. It wasn't long before one of his fingers joined his teasing, brushing against her moist lips, testing._

_For a second, he removed his mouth from her, and Sakura's head shot up to see what was wrong, only to catch him sucking on his finger before he leaned down again. Sakura inhaled sharply, bracing herself for what she knew was about to happen. Just as planned, his finger pushed against her entrance, inching into her slowly and carefully, retracting and moving forth again a few times when the lubrication was lacking._

_After a few seconds of watching the ceiling of his tent and wincing at the discomfort, she bit her lip, finally feeling more of the electricity coursing through her nerves when he rubbed against just the perfect spot._

_Seemingly happy with the rhythm he'd set with his hand, his attention refocused on his tongue and it restarted moving with the same intent._

_Sakura's stomach clenched and she groaned, tugging at handfuls of his hair again when a wave of pleasure made her shut her eyes. "Oh geez."_

"_Do that again," Kakashi breathed between her thighs, raising another wave with his voice alone._

_Cheeks reddening again, Sakura turned her head to the side, watching the abandoned deck of cards as a series of small whimpers escaped against her will._

_Without warning, he pulled away and sat on his heels, undoing the knot of his pants with obvious impatience. Sakura grit her teeth again, though she didn't stop watching him. The moment he was naked, his hands spread her thighs wider and he settled between them, disregarding their resistance._

_When her arms reached for him and her eyes met his, he complied, offering her the comfort and sympathy he had denied her all along. With his forehead against hers, Sakura could stare into his eyes, drawing from them the calm and warmth they expressed._

_The moment she felt him prod at her entrance, Sakura trembled under Kakashi, eyes searching his for support and jaw clenching in anticipation. Though he did not stop, his palm cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking the soft flesh._

"_Kakashi-sensei," she whimpered when he stretched her, making her wince in discomfort._

"_Shh, Sakura," he breathed against her lips, offering only his gaze's reassurance._

_With a nod, she drew in another breath, relaxing under his body, just now noticing how much larger than her he was. He pushed his hips into hers a little more and she expelled the breath she'd just taken, hands reaching up to grip his biceps._

_There, it was done._

_Just as slowly, he pulled away, only to plunge back in her, repeating the motion a few times and picking up speed with every thrust._

_Sakura's body jerked a few more times under his, needing time to adjust to him. Biting her lip against the discomfort, she turned her head towards the deck of cards again, chuckling internally when she saw the three of clubs had been blown off the top to the side._

"_Don't look away," Kakashi demanded, cupping her cheek again to bring her eyes back towards his._

_Obediently, Sakura nodded, shifting her focus back to the feel of him inside of her, causing her thighs to quiver when a surprise warmth collected around her clit._

_Above her, Kakashi was panting, small grunts coming from his throat with every few thrusts._

_His pace was still accelerating, but now she could feel an enticing sensation every time he pushed back into her and she whimpered, closing her eyes._

"_Fuck," he groaned, thrusting particularly hard._

_Roughly, he pressed urgent kisses to her neck while his hands gripped her hips harder, guiding them into his own rhythm._

"_Kakashi!" she moaned when her insides clenched again with the pleasure she was still growing accustomed to._

_She could feel him twitch inside of her when she moaned, distracting her with surprise for a second, though his strained breaths at her neck were quick to reignite the flame in her belly._

_In the blink of an eye, he was kissing her again, stealing her breath away as well as another moan. Kakashi himself wasn't so silent anymore, groaning in her mouth as his thrusting became erratic and stronger._

_After one long grunt, he stilled, hovering above her as he took a moment to catch his breath._

_Tentatively, Sakura cupped his cheeks with her palms in the same manner he had done for her, tilting his head back so she could observe his exposed face. With a small, shy smile spreading on her lips, she raised her head, placing a kiss on his still parted mouth. Following her lead, he drew her into his arms as he lied down his side, allowing her to feel the hectic beating of his heart._

Broken from her reverie, Sakura bit back a groan as she remembered her period was due around the beginning of the month. With the lack of proper showers as it was, she was in no way enthusiastic about being bloody for a week and having very few means of keeping herself clean.

Suddenly, Sakura's eyes widened.

Two months since the start of the war.

Two months.

Her last period had been a _week_ after the war. Jaw slack, Sakura dropped in a sitting position. The heartburn, the nausea, vomiting over nothing, the tenderness in her breasts… The loss of control of her chakra.

She was _pregnant_.

As soon as Sakura had understood that her realization was in no way a dream, was _true_, she fled from the camp to go hide in the woods. It was impossible. Tsunade had told her herself that she would be unable to get pregnant due to the injuries Sasori had inflicted on her. Even while fighting Madara, she had been stabbed through the abdomen twice again, only adding to it. Still, Sakura could not deny the evidence and had to pin it to some godly intervention - or rather, a devil's doing.

Before long, Sasuke appeared between the trees while Sakura sobbed into her hands.

"Go away," she choked out, turning her head away from him so he wouldn't see her face.

Still, Sasuke walked until he stood before her and he held his hand out for her to take. Sakura didn't move, refusing to look at him or obey him.

"Sakura," he called gently. "Stand up."

Sighing, she took his hand, letting him haul up the immense weight that rested on her whole body for her.

"You really are pregnant, aren't you?"

Sakura gasped and stared into his dark, impassive eyes, unable to say a word.

Rolling his eyes, he sighed. "I can put two and two together. You've been showing several symptoms."

Sakura swallowed hard as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks and she bit her lip.

Sasuke only stood there for a little while, listening to her as she cried. When he placed his hand on her shoulder, Sakura held her breath and raised her gaze to his again, surprised by the warmth she found in his eyes

"You need to stop crying."

Sakura chuckled weakly and rubbed her eyes with her sleeves.

When her face was dry, Sasuke pulled a card from his pocket and handed it over to it. Taking it between her fingers, Sakura saw it was the queen of hearts. Frowning, she glanced back up at Sasuke.

"If you'll stop crying and it makes you feel better," he started slowly, resting his hands inside of his pockets. "I'll tell everyone I'm the father."

Sakura's eyes widened as she understood the underlying meaning behind his words and actions. "You know about that, too?"

"Did you think you were being subtle?"

Wincing, Sakura pulled her shoulders towards her body and stared at the ground. When he didn't say more, she spoke again. "You don't have anything to say about it?"

"It's not my place," he said calmly.

After a moment, Sakura expelled the breath she had been holding. Hesitant, she drew him into a tight embrace and rested her cheek against his chest. His broad shoulders and hard chest were still alien to her. Even the feel of his skin, far too soft for someone so harsh, was something she couldn't get used to. Slowly, he removed his hands from his pockets and his arms wrapped around her and he held her tightly. Sakura smiled against his shirt, realizing it was probably the first time he gave her a true and heartfelt hug.

For once, the constant threat she had felt in his presence vanished and she relaxed in his embrace.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

* * *

**Authors' Note: ** I'm sure some of you have been awaiting the "first time" reveal, but it wouldn't do if we didn't pair it with death and bad news, now would it?! Hope you enjoy, and as always, LolaLot and I appreciate anyone who drops a line. Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 6: King of Hearts

Kakashi smiled raucously at Sakura next to him. "I believe that eight of spades belongs to me."

A card flew at him like a kunai, aimed straight between his eyes, followed by a muttered curse. Kakashi caught the card between two fingers just before it touched his forehead and nonchalantly flipped it into his hand, laying out his cards in a familiar formation in front of him.

Sakura didn't even wait for him to finish before chucking the rest of her hand at him, the four of diamonds and ace of clubs flipping wrong side up on top of the pile. "You're disgusting, you know that?"

"I've been told once or twice."

Kakashi took another drag from his cup of rice wine. A stash had been located and quickly misappropriated; occasionally, it did pay off to be high ranking with friends like the Hokage and Kazekage. It wasn't food, so he didn't even feel guilty. After the day he'd had - his hands shook as he collected the deck of cards - Kakashi was being a bit liberal with the bottle. He wasn't the only one; the Kazekage himself was swaying gently in his seat across the large bonfire, and if he began to fall too far in one direction, his sand propped him up. Sakura, on the other hand, hadn't had a drop.

"You're being such a spoilsport, Forehead," Ino purred in her rough voice, draping herself over Sakura from behind before plopping down between Sakura and Sasuke. "Always sitting in a corner playing cards with your boring old sensei."

"I like playing cards!" Sakura protested. "And he's not _that_ boring. Usually."

Kakashi slowly traced the line of her jaw with the edge of the king of hearts. "Do I truly bore you, Sakura-chan?"

There was warmth behind her smile as Sakura toyed with the card between his fingers. "You have your moments. I guess."

Ino narrowed her eyes, looking between them with a new keenness, so Kakashi withdrew his hand, tucking the card back into the deck.

"They play cards almost every night," Sai said from Kakashi's right, smiling in the earnest way that meant he thought he was being helpful. "Usually together."

"Every night, eh? _Usually_ together?" Kakashi caught Sakura's eye and grinned slyly. "Been going solo, Sakura-chan? Suddenly I'm interested."

"A game of cards is a nice way to relax," Sakura said, spreading out her legs so her ankle brushed his deliberately. "Even solitaire."

Kakashi tucked the deck of cards back into his flak jacket pocket. "But it's never as fun to play alone, am I right?"

Batting her eyelashes at him playfully, she simpered. "You're always right, Kakashi-sensei."

"Ah, so you _have_ learned something from me."

"Sooooo boring," whined Ino, throwing an arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Do you guys seriously sit around talking about solitaire? I don't even know how to _play_ solitaire!"

"How unfortunate," Kakashi said as sincerely as he could muster, as if he was offering condolences after grave news. "I bet I know someone willing to teach you. Several someones, probably."

Though she boxed his ears in scolding, Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "You're drunk, Kakashi."

"And you aren't," he returned, raising his glass in a toast to her.

"He's right, you know," Ino accused as if Sakura had committed some sort of crime.

"Didn't you listen? I'm always right."

Ino ignored Kakashi, waving her cup in front of Sakura's nose. "You love sake. It's nice, see?"

Sakura turned her head away in a jerking motion. "No thanks, Pig."

Frowning, Ino stared intently, as if something in Sakura's face would give her the answer she was looking for. "But –"

"Sakura doesn't drink that brand of sake anymore," Sasuke said suddenly, though he hadn't spoken in quite some time.

"Why would the brand matter?" Ino said suspiciously, but took her cup back, sipping it.

Sasuke shrugged. "When we were twelve, Naruto stole a bottle just like it and we drank so much Sakura turned green. She hasn't liked it since then."

Ino turned to Sakura, eyebrows raised practically to her hairline.

"Sick as a dog," Sakura confirmed sheepishly.

"If I recall correctly," Kakashi said, "there were _two_ pale, sweaty little faces at training the next day, not just one. Naruto was dancing circles around you two."

Sakura swiveled her head towards him, aghast. "You knew about that?"

"How could I forget Sasuke-chan's first hangover? It was so cute, watching him pretend he trained too hard when he threw up in the bushes." Kakashi's lazy grin only grew wider at drawing a rare blush from a tipsy Sasuke. "Besides, I know everything."

The amusement fled Sasuke's eyes and they were suddenly very piercing, flickering flames reflected in their black depths as he stared at Kakashi. "You don't know everything."

Quickly enough to startle Kakashi, Sakura turned and kicked Sasuke in the shin. "Shut up."

Sasuke backed down, turning back to stare into the fire.

Ino, having just narrowly missed being kicked herself, stood up shakily. "The vibe is seriously weird over here. I'm sure Lee-kun is missing me, so…"

Without so much as a goodbye – not that she'd said hello, either – Ino was gone.

"Haha, you threw up in the bushes," Suigetsu snickered, delayed. "What a dork."

Suigetsu was a lazy, quiet drunk, and Kakashi had to admit it was a nice change.

"So you shared things like that with that guy? Naruto? The one everyone's always afraid to talk about? I didn't know you knew him like that."

Kakashi closed his eyes. For just a second – a minute, maybe – he had managed to forget, to just think about Naruto and remember his antics and laugh.

"They were best friends," Sakura said harshly. "The best of friends."

"Huh. I thought they kept trying to kill each other or something like that," Suigetsu said, taking another swig. "Bummer. I thought I was only against Juugo for Sasuke's best friend, and _obviously_ I beat him. But we can't compete against a dead guy, can we? It's not fair."

Without a word, Sai stood up and stalked away.

Sakura sighed. "Now look what you've done."

Farther to Kakashi's right, Yamato, who had been napping quietly but apparently awoken, pulled himself to his feet. "I'll go. It's all right."

"Thanks," Sakura, said, relaxing as Yamato went after Sai.

The sake suddenly tasted sour on Kakashi's tongue. He set his cup aside and stood up as well, offering Sakura a hand up. She took it, her eyes questioning.

"I don't feel like playing solitaire tonight," he murmured into her ear.

Face still pinched after the mention of Naruto, she nodded and followed him after a quick wave goodbye to the others scattered around the large fire.

As they were leaving, Kakashi heard Suigetsu say, "That chick was right. Seriously weird."

On their way back, a beam of moonlight slatted across Sakura's face, and Kakashi noticed that she looked a bit grey around the gills – but perhaps it was an illusion after leaving the orange glow of the flames.

"You all right?" He paused in front of his tent, passing a hand through her loose locks. They were still slightly damp and curly after an earlier bath he vaguely wished he could have witnessed, but Kakashi ignored that and laid his palm on the back of her neck.

She leaned into his touch, laying her hand on his bicep and closing her eyes. "I think so."

Kakashi frowned at the equivocal answer, but leaned down and opened the tent flap for her anyway. She crawled inside, and Kakashi nearly disregarded his worries as she wiggled her bottom, spreading out his blankets neatly.

"I know how to cheer you up," he growled, forgetting himself, and suddenly, he was on top of her, mask down, laving his tongue down her neck.

She arched underneath him, responding, and when he brought his lips to hers, she kissed him back. It wasn't long before his hardened shaft was pressed between her legs, demanding attention, having been neglected far too long – since the night of the funeral, in fact, though they hadn't said the word "funeral" once. His hand snaked between their bodies to inch her pants down just enough to grant access – but when he touched her at the juncture of her thighs, she froze, stiff as a board.

Kakashi stopped, withdrawing to look at her in bewilderment. She wasn't meeting his eyes.

"I guess I'm not in the mood," she whispered. "Sorry."

With a sigh he couldn't repress, Kakashi flopped to the side on his back. "Something's wrong."

It was not a question this time, and she didn't deny it.

"Do you remember that time," she began, voice shaky, "when you said you'd feed a baby for me? Did you mean it, or were you just horny?"

"If you needed it," Kakashi said carefully, this closed-off type of temper something he'd never seen in her before, "there aren't many things I _wouldn't_ do for you."

She covered her face with her palms, leaving her pants half down, chest rising and falling just a hair too rapidly.

"Sakura…"

"Don't give me that bullshit about _need_." There was suppressed anger, there, in her voice and in the heaving of her shoulders. "I'm asking what you _want_."

Sitting up to look at her, Kakashi frowned deeply. "Do you think I don't want you?"

Her fingers tightened around her forehead, knuckles whitening. "Everything turns back around to sex with you, doesn't it?"

"You know it's not like that," Kakashi said, suddenly unsure and too aware of his lingering erection, willing it to deflate. "Don't you?"

"I do. I'm sorry." With growing alarm, Kakashi realized there were tears leaking from beneath the heels of her palms. "It's just… What if I _did_ ask you to feed a baby?"

"Then I would feed a baby." Kakashi gently tugged her hands from her face and almost regretted it when she turned her anguished eyes on him. It felt like a jab to the abdomen. "Sakura. Sakura, please."

"What if it was your baby?" Her voice was tiny; even in the quiet of the night and the still of the air inside the tent, Kakashi barely heard it.

"What?" He stared at her blankly, uncomprehending.

"Kakashi." The tears were truly flowing now, dripping sideways down her cheeks, behind her ears, and onto his bedraggled blankets. "Kakashi, I think I'm pregnant."

"But you can't get pregnant." It was the first thought that occurred to him and he said it without thinking, but he knew it was the wrong thing to say when her face crumpled.

"Ap-ap-apparently," she spat out, quickly growing hysterical, "I can."

Though numb with disbelief, Kakashi could still respond to her distress, gathering her in his arms and stroking her hair. "It'll be all right. Shh."

"You promised that before, on the roof of the hospital." Her tone was quiet, soggy with emotion, but it cut like a knife. "How did that work out?"

"Sasuke is home," Kakashi said in weak defense, stomach knotted and threatening to come back up his esophagus.

"And Naruto is _dead_."

Kakashi's arms tightened around her back so he feared he'd hurt her, but she didn't object. He wasn't sure whose shaking it was he felt – his, or hers.

"Oh, God. Naruto is dead. He's really dead."

She sobbed into Kakashi's collarbone, reaching up to grip the back of his head, pulling his hair so hard it stung. He didn't mind. It felt right.

"I'm so scared," she whispered into his chin, squeezing her eyes shut.

"How sure are you?" His voice was ragged, pulse racing.

She sniffed and wiped her face on her sleeve, finally calming herself a little. "Pretty sure. But I think I should see Shizune tomorrow to confirm. I was hoping – that is to say, I think it would go over better if we did it together, but you don't have to come if you don't –"

"Of course," Kakashi interrupted, pained by the surprise on her face. "Of course I'll go."

Though tear tracks still shone her cheeks, she gave a watery smile and leaned in, hesitating only a fraction of a second before touching her lips to his. At first, it was a chaste kiss, but soon deepened. She was on his lap proper now, all of the emotion that had spilled over just a moment before now focused in a new direction. When his cock twitched back to attention, unbidden, she wriggled against it, quickly working up a rhythm.

"We can give it another go if you want," she breathed when they broke for air. "Sorry about before."

"Are you sure?"

In spite of his words, his fingers were already unbuttoning her blouse, slipping inside her bra – or trying to, but there was no room for him, the cups overflowing. She winced, and he realized she must be too sensitive there. It hit him, for the first time, that she was actually pregnant, that this was _real_. His better judgment chided him, but as she rubbed along the length of him, it abandoned him entirely – as usual.

"Are you sure?" he repeated, but he was already lost, grinding his hips, lips seeking hers again.

"I don't think I can get pregnant twice," she said, wicked grin widening as she toyed with the tie of his pants.

He groaned into her mouth. "I thought _I _was the drunk one."

She loosed the knot and her small, nimble hands sunk under the band. There was no more talking.

* * *

Kakashi knelt in front of the cenotaph, sweat itching underneath his headband as the May sun beat down on his dark-colored clothing, tingling on the nape of his neck. He dare not take off his headband for relief, though. Not today. Not now.

_Ya … ma … shi … ro … Ao .. ba._

The nail of Kakashi's index finger cracked and bled, even encased in earth chakra as it was, as he used it to carve names into the memorial. Someone like Sakura, if she were adept at earth-based chakra, could likely channel through a tool with enough precision, but for Kakashi, this would have to do.

Though even Sakura probably couldn't do it these days, what with the pregnancy interfering with her chakra flow at the most inconvenient of times. The reminder turned his stomach. Though she said to wait for Shizune and Tsunade-shishou to confirm – had laughed and said, _It's probably just stress. I'm hysterical. You'll see_ – Kakashi knew better.

He should have seen it sooner; her strange behavior and distance from him all throughout the Rock mission was as plain as the nose on her face, in hindsight. If that wasn't enough, the way she scrambled out of the tent this morning and upturned the meager contents of her stomach not three feet away was a pretty clear indication. After that, he had watched her dress silently, seen the way she dithered over her bra – off, and the flimsy white material of her shirt showed her darkening areolas and newly defined nipples in a way that was appealing to Kakashi but understandably less so to Sakura; on, and she hadn't even finished pulling up her pants before cursing and throwing the thin, greying fabric across the tent and glaring at it fiercely. She ended up settling for stealing his leg bindings and loosely wrapping her chest with them. Each time she wound another layer around her, her full, heavy breasts swayed gently. The frayed bindings did little to contain them, but she seemed satisfied nonetheless.

_Meet me at lunchtime, first shift?_ she'd said almost absentmindedly, halfway out of the tent, the day's cares already lining her face. _At the medical tents?_

Yes, Sakura was as pregnant as a woman could get. However unanticipated this situation was, they were in it nonetheless.

"Hatake-sama? I'm sorry to bother you, but…"

Kakashi sighed and stood up, stretching the kinks from his back. "It was time for a break anyway."

The young ninja – nervous, inexperienced with authority from the look of it – relaxed at Kakashi's smile. "It's just – it's just that I heard you were compiling the names for the memorial, and my mother…"

"Did you personally see her body?" Kakashi's voice took on a monotone as he repeated the rote questions he'd said so often lately.

The boy wrung his hands. "Well, no, but –"

"If anyone you know saw her body, please give me their names so that I may inquire further."

"Well, you see, when we left, she was, ah, sleeping…" He scuffed his foot, looking down.

"We are categorizing any sleepers as missing in action until further notice," Kakashi said quietly. "I'm sorry."

The boy looked up - he'd been in the Second Division, Kakashi thought, though he couldn't recall a name - with tears in his eyes. "Excuse me, sir, but you know she's dead."

Kakashi turned back to the stone.

"Probably," he said, tired of giving the company line about _policy_ and _uncertainty in these dark times_, however much Hyuuga Hiashi insisted that consistency was paramount. "But that's how it is anyway."

Kakashi wasn't sure what he hated more, this reaction or the false hope that Ino and Lee's return had brought some. Behind him, Kakashi heard the other ninja choke back a sob and then gather himself.

"I understand. Thank you."

Without waiting for the boy to walk away, Kakashi beat him to it. His attachment to the memorial had become a curse. Just as his reasons for visiting - Obito, Rin - had become exceedingly complicated, the choice had been taken away from him.

That's the place he was stuck, though. The menial duties assigned to most - guarding the civilians and setting them to work, planning the construction of an earthen wall meant to stop the mysterious disappearance of food stores and other resources including civilians themselves, hewing wood for eventual buildings, and other things necessary to keep the camp running smoothly - all of these were deemed beneath Kakashi, the leader of an extinct division in a long-dead alliance.

No one would listen to his protests that he was perfectly willing to do the same things as anyone else. Kakashi expected it from Hyuuga Hiashi, who had somehow insinuated himself into the new workings of Konoha as surely as a weed took root. The man had ever been concerned with appearances - too concerned, in Kakashi's opinion. But even Tsunade waved Kakashi away, rasping, "Stop pretending to be someone you're not. It's not fooling anyone."

So Kakashi was given projects: check up on this unit or that strange report and when there was no other busy work to keep him out of the way, conduct the endless interviews about who was in limbo and whose fate had been decided. The truth of the matter was that Kakashi lacked any useful skills outside of the shinobi realm; in absence of people to kill, he served no purpose.

That was why he was given the majority of the out of village missions, and Sasuke sent to tag along with him to get him out of Konoha's hair. In the field, Team Taka ruffled no feathers, consumed no rations, exacerbated no old tensions. Out of sight, out of mind. Sakura and Sai were, what - Taka's babysitters, a concession to Kakashi, a little bit of both?

How long would that last, now that Sakura was pregnant?

Kakashi slowed as he neared the medical tents. Was he really ready for what was about to happen? What other choice did he have?

There were people walking briskly to and fro, presumably medics, though in modern times there were no uniforms to distinguish them. Others milled about, doing what, Kakashi had no idea. Perhaps they were patients, or perhaps they served some other purpose beyond Kakashi's ken. The medical area was always bustling and always a mystery Kakashi would rather avoid, but he didn't, today, looking around for a flash of pink.

What he saw first, however, was the white and red Uchiha fan. Sasuke's lithe frame was almost large enough to blot out Sakura's entirely, but Kakashi would know her laugh anywhere. He walked forward in a way he knew would keep him blocked from view by the left tent, not sure why he wasn't announcing his presence - but he'd never seen Sakura smile at Sasuke like that, at least not since they were genin together, and Kakashi was suddenly curious.

"I thought for sure Kakashi would say it was shochu that made us sick that time," Sakura was saying. "Thanks for covering for me. Ino can be kind of relentless."

"I told you he doesn't know everything," Sasuke said, and laid hand on her shoulder. "Did you decide?"

Her smile faded. "I - He said he was coming today. I think it's for the best."

"Coming to what, a doctor's appointment? It's going to be a lot more complicated than that. But you can't go back."

"I don't want to hide, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "I don't see the point. It would come out in the end anyway, you know. The baby won't have Sharingan."

Sasuke shifted, letting his hand fall back to his side. "Is it really going to get that far? You might find more opposition than you think, in the short-term."

"In the short-term…" Sakura's mouth twisted into a thoughtful little moue. "I don't think that changes what the right thing is, just because something is easier for now."

With a nonchalant raise of his shoulders, Sasuke grunted. "As long as you stop crying."

"I wonder how many people know you can be sweet like this, Sas -" She cut off mid-word, lips twitching into a smile. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi stepped forward, ignoring Sasuke's burning gaze. "Not late, am I?"

"Only ten minutes," she said, coming to meet him with a twinkle in her eye. "A record, I'd say. I'm impressed."

"At least someone thinks I did something right today," Kakashi said, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her away.

She looked a little surprised, eyeing where his hand was tucked into the curve of her hip, but didn't comment. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun," she called over her shoulder. "I won't tell anyone your secret. See you later."

When they were out of earshot, Kakashi unclenched his jaw long enough to grind out, "You told Sasuke. Before me."

Sakura merely rolled her eyes. "He guessed."

And Kakashi didn't, it went unsaid.

"Kakashi."

"_What?_"

His snapping didn't deter her, but it put something in her eyes that made Kakashi bite the inside of his cheek. "We passed the tent," she said quietly, slipping out of his grip.

Regretting his temper, he caught her hand. "I won't let anything happen to you. You know that, right?"

She squeezed his fingers and smiled at him. "Can you really control something like that?"

Without any further delay, Sakura swept into the house-sized tent, leaving Kakashi no rejoinder but to follow. She stopped a man with mad scientist-type hair whose harsh face softened when he saw who it was.

"Kenshin-san, Shizune's expecting me. Can you -?"

"Exam Room B."

"Thank you."

Exam Room B turned out to be a couple of sheets hung in a closet-sized approximation of privacy, but Shizune was waiting in it, regardless. She sat Sakura down on the makeshift examining table, paying Kakashi no mind.

"What is it now? I told you you need to eat more. Rations are portioned out the way they are for a reason, and you can't go -"

"Shizune," Sakura cut her off, suddenly uncomfortably young and doe-eyed, like an errant child, "if I'm wrong, you can't tell Shishou. Please."

Shizune stilled, her palm still flat against the bottom of Sakura's chin as she checked her glands. "Sakura…"

"_Promise._"

It was, perhaps, the pleading in Sakura's voice that made Shizune give in. "And if you're right?"

"I can't think about it," Sakura whispered. "Don't ask me to."

"All right," Shizune said carefully. "What, exactly, are you wrong about?"

"You were there, weren't you, when Shishou said - when she told me I'd never have children?" Sakura swallowed audibly. "I didn't make it up, did I?"

Only the tic in Shizune's cheek gave her away. "Of course I was there. Your fallopian tubes were hopelessly scarred by Sasori's poison. Your menstrual cycles would continue normally, but without a proper passage, your eggs would never -"

Sakura raised her shirt, staring down at her smooth, unmarred abdomen. "But Shishou fixed the scar on the outside. Not the inside."

"It was impossible." Shizune glanced askance at Kakashi for the first time. "Sakura, what are you trying to say?"

The shirt dropped, covering the river of skin that transfixed Kakashi so easily. How flat her stomach was - concave, almost. It was hard to imagine that soon, it might balloon so radically.

"Impossible." Sakura smiled, sagging in relief. "You said it yourself. It's impossible. I can't be pregnant."

Shizune closed her eyes, but no surprise showed in her face. "When was your last period?"

"Mid to early March," Sakura said immediately. "I've thought, but I can't pinpoint the exact day - we were about to set out on that mission to find the seeds, and I was so distracted -"

"Early March? It's May." Shizune frowned. "You should have been here sooner."

"There are hundreds of reasons to miss a period. Malnutrition, hormonal imbalance, change in diet, shock to the system -" Sakura rattled them off by memory.

"If you believed those were the case, we wouldn't be sitting here," Shizune said quietly. "What are your other symptoms?"

"A bit of nausea," Sakura admitted, biting her lip. "Sensitivity to smell, especially when it comes to food. But, I mean, the food's been pretty gross. It smells rank, sometimes. That's not just me, it's everyone."

"Your chakra."

When Kakashi spoke, the women's eyes swiveled to him. Sakura glared like he'd betrayed her.

"Might as well out with it all," he said to her, then looked at Shizune. "Her chakra control is inconsistent, and I think we can agree that's most irregular. She's fatigued constantly. There have been mood swings -"

"There have not," Sakura hissed, suddenly scowling.

"Mood swings," Kakashi repeated flatly.

"I'm not erratic!" she protested, then turned to Shizune. "I'm _not_."

Kakashi sighed, tired of the pretense. "Then what was last night, Sakura?"

Her eyes widened, suddenly watery. "Being emotional doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. There's plenty to be upset about."

"It's not the upset part that concerns me," Kakashi said, and she recoiled as if he'd slapped her, turning her face away.

He squatted in front of her, trying not to think of Shizune's prying eyes and the uncomfortable knowing glint in them. "Sakura, there's nothing wrong with you. You're just pregnant. It's almost like you're trying to convince Shizune otherwise -"

"So what if I am?" Sakura spat out, nostrils flaring. "Is that so wrong?"

"And if you succeed?" Kakashi laid a hand on her rigid thigh. "You'll leave here, but will you feel any better? You know the truth already or we wouldn't have come."

Sakura burst into tears, anger fleeing as suddenly as it had come. "Just pregnant," she said with a little hiccough. "Easy for you to say."

Shizune handed Sakura some clean bandages to wipe her face with, lips pursed so hard they were a thin white slash in her face. "Generally, men leave the room for this part," Shizune muttered, eyeing him coldly, "except for one man. Sometimes."

Kakashi stayed put, and again, this did not surprise Shizune. She moved to examine Sakura as she laid back on the low, rough-hewn table, discarding her pants to the side.

"We have no equipment, so we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." Shizune parted Sakura's knees rather forcefully.

"Isn't the old fashioned way just to wait nine months and see if a baby results?" The joke fell flat as Sakura stared cheerlessly at the ceiling.

"You'd be surprised. They weren't neanderthals."

The conversation shifted to exclude Kakashi. It was far less erotic than Kakashi might have once thought, seeing a woman slide her fingers into another woman's vagina - especially when they then took turns examining and exclaiming over the consistency of vaginal mucus. Kakashi stared at a random spot on the sheet wall, letting their lamentations of not being able to perform "proper" tests wash over him without comprehension. He preferred to imagine Sakura as she'd been last night - shuddering in ecstasy as she rode his cock into oblivion.

"And your breasts?"

Involuntarily, Kakashi keyed back into what was transpiring in front of him. When Shizune reached up to touch them, Sakura blanched before her fingers even brushed them.

"That bad already, huh? Most women find that it passes within a few months. Until you start breastfeeding, at least. But that's the miracle of life for you."

Sakura inhaled sharply.

"Sakura," Shizune said, not unkindly, "it's time to talk to Tsunade-sama."

Her legs still hanging open, Sakura reached up to massage the bridge of her nose. "Tomorrow, maybe?"

Shizune leaned down and kissed Sakura on the forehead. "Don't leave it too long."

* * *

When they got to the food tent - still not having spoken since leaving Shizune - Kakashi was automatically shuffled to the front of the rations line, and Sakura as well by virtue of being with him.

It was Chouji handing out rations, as usual, though he was alone today, and Kakashi saw the way Sakura's eyes lingered over the almost unrecognizably skinny boy, clutching the list Shizune had insisted she take. Kakashi nudged Sakura gently, and she handed the list over with shaking hands.

"Medical orders," Chouji said with a frown. "Are you all right?"

Sakura didn't answer, shifting her weight anxiously.

"A _quart_ of raw milk? Bone broth _and_ beef or lamb? Two eggs fried in butter? Daily?" Chouji looked up at her with eyes as wide as saucers. "I'm sorry, Sakura, but this is impossible. No one eats like this, not even the malnutrition patients. We can't sustain -"

Kakashi laid a heavy hand on the table. "Are you head of the Medical Unit now? Whose signature is on that paper?"

"I'm not the head of the Provisions Unit, either!" Chouji said bravely, though his face was all red splotches and he looked miserable.

"I've got a headache," a Sand nin joked from behind them. "Can I have a steak, too?"

"Don't kid yourself," someone else muttered, this one with a Konoha headband. "That's only for the favored few. Look who it is."

"This is a private matter," Chouji said to them stiffly, then turned back to Kakashi. "I can't authorize -"

"Why don't you let the unit heads worry about it and follow your orders for now, then, hmm?" Kakashi was smiling, head tilted to the side, but even Chouji recognized the danger in his voice and grew even redder.

"_Kakashi_," Sakura hissed, glancing around them at the people who were already starting to whisper. "Oh, shit. Sasuke, don't make it worse."

Sasuke had come up beside Kakashi, casually biting into a heel of bread. "Is there a problem?"

"Ah, Sasuke," Chouji said, squirming in his seat. "I don't think you can help over here."

"But I think I can," Sasuke said, tossing the heel up and then catching it with a grin. "This is exactly the type of thing I should be helping with, don't you agree? There aren't many things I like, but weaklings giving Sakura a hard time isn't one of them."

Sakura covered her face with her hands. "Oh my _God_, Sasuke. Shut _up_."

Sasuke only took another bite of stale bread, still smiling.

"A bit heavy handed, eh, Sasuke-chan?" Kakashi said, grinding his molars. "Chouji is a good boy. He's a bit worried about the higher ups, but he's going to do the right thing anyway."

"I could kill you both," Sakura snapped venomously, the wrinkle between her brow growing more pronounced. "Talk about socially retarded. You make Sai look like a genius."

Sakura leaned over the table and pressed her mouth to Chouji's ear, whispering. Kakashi saw the moment when he understood; Chouji's eyes widened and then slipped down subconsciously to Sakura's stomach. He gulped.

"I'll see what I can do," Chouji said earnestly, shoving some rations at Kakashi without looking at him. "Just sit down and I'll have someone bring something to you."

Sakura went to the nearest table and sat down heavily, her fingers threading through her hair, chest heaving. Sasuke and Kakashi sat next to her. Kakashi met Sasuke's hard eyes across the table, feeling his own features settle into a scowl. Still, no one spoke.

"I used to look forward to lunch," Sakura said finally, and began to laugh and sob dryly at the same time. Quickly, she repressed her emotions, full lips squeezing into a thin line.

Kakashi just stared at her. He had no comfort to offer.

* * *

"Oh, thank God," Ino sighed when she saw Kakashi, sun-streaked hair plastered to her forehead, sunburn blushing across the apples of her cheeks. "The Hyuuga are breathing down my neck. I'm really in it over here, but no one offers to help, oh no, they just give me snotty replies about my operating procedures and -"

Ino stopped abruptly, staring at him in horror. "Wait, you _are_ here to help, right? You're not just here to ask me where Sakura's gone or something, because I don't know. Tenten said she hasn't been back to their tent since yesterday morning, which is a whole 'nother can of worms, isn't it? And hasn't she seemed a bit peaked to you?"

"Tsunade-sama said something about tainted grain," Kakashi said, skipping over any reference to Sakura.

Luckily, Tsunade herself had been more than happy to do the same, despite Shizune in the room asking pointedly how Sakura was doing. Hyuuga Hiashi had blinked in annoyance at the distraction, giving Kakashi an excuse not to answer at all. He'd been sent to visit Ino, though, of all people. The world was laughing at him, it seemed.

"Good," Ino said, taking a second to redo her hair in a messy bun that sat on the crown of her head so it was out of her way.

Just with that small change, her features settled into seriousness and all of a sudden, he could see how Ino had come to be the head of the Agricultural Department, a branch of the Provisions Unit. She had been the most surprising name in the list of freshly appointed authority in the new infrastructure that attempted to adapt to the changed world. Not to mention her age, Ino was one of few chuunin, fewer women, and even fewer non-Hyuuga. Technically, she outranked Kakashi, who remained outside of the system. He only wished people would act like it.

Ino was trying to explain to Kakashi the methods of cold storage for grains as she led him deep into a cellar. She told him how they had dried this crop, or that one, and about the red beetle infestation cured by painstakingly transferring one pile of grain to another while water jutsu chilled the room - but careful not to reintroduce moisture to the grain! - then repeating the process for two entire weeks.

"In the beginning, I tried to tell the Hyuuga that growing orchids - managing a greenhouse, if we're being really generous - really isn't the same thing," Ino said, moving a massive lid off a huge bin filled with normal-looking wheat stalks. "But then they started to act like I don't know what I'm doing - and maybe I don't, but if _I_ don't, then they _really _don't. I just listen to the farmers."

Already, Kakashi could tell that Ino did a good deal more than that. Listening to the farmers was one thing, but in just a few minutes of rambling she had described several complicated jutsu adaptations that had solved some serious problems. Yamanaka Ino was more clever than he'd ever given her credit for, and more useful to the new Konoha by far than he was himself. How she and Tsunade expected Kakashi to help with what was, reportedly, a mold problem, he didn't know.

"The thing is, Kakashi-sensei," Ino said, frowning into the metal bin, "that on top of that cow that got stolen, we have a _dead_ cow on our hands. From _this_ grain."

"But the bin is only half full." Kakashi rubbed his masked chin thoughtfully. "We've been using it for some time now, I take it. Shouldn't there be more dead cows?"

Or dead people. Neither of them said it, but it hung in the air.

"That's the rub, isn't it," she said flatly. "Provisions makes daily, or at least semi-weekly, withdrawals from this bin. There haven't been any hot spots, no visible mold, nothing. In a new bin, we might have missed something. It happens. But…"

A vision flashed across Kakashi's mind of the dying Hakken man cursing his own Mist comrades for burning an entire village's worth of people to death rather than see another clan benefit from them. Kakashi closed his eyes, trying to make the thought vanish, but it scraped at the back of his skull, begging for release. Sabotage from within Konoha's vast camp would have to be ruled out.

"How many more bins are like this?"

Ino's nervous smile was all the answer Kakashi needed - and feared.

It had been a long day, and it was only going to get longer.

* * *

"Sakura is a lucky cow," Ino whined, already wolfing down her stew as they walked - dinner, unlike lunch, was notably lacking bread. "We got here so late, I was sure we'd be waiting forever, but nope, right to the front!"

Kakashi looked at Ino sidelong, but she just tipped the last of her stew into the second bowl, careful not to spill a drop.

"I bet she never has to wait in line because of you."

Ino dipped into the opening of a particular tent, setting the extra-full bowl in front of Kurenai, who smiled gratefully. She grabbed the bowl and sipped it, one-handed, her other hand occupied with holding the nursing baby to her chest. His face was pressed into her exposed breast, depressed like a soft pillow of white flesh mapped with blue veins. He suckled quietly.

"How are you today, Kurenai-sensei?" Ino said with a bright smile.

The baby detached from Kurenai's breast with a wet _pop_ and was quickly handed off to Ino so Kurenai could eat properly. "And how is this handsome fellow? You give Lee-kun a run for his money, don't you, little Asuma?"

With an air of practice, Ino looked around and located a ragged towel which was laid across her shoulder as she patted the baby's back and cooed at it.

"Don't let the cares of the world weigh you down so much," Kurenai said to Ino, finally remembering to tuck her breast back into her yukata. "You can't fix everything."

Asuma spit up onto the towel, and Ino lifted him in the air and placed a sloppy kiss on his chubby little cheek. "Tell that to the Hyuuga."

"Go visit Lee while you have the chance," Kurenai said with a warm smile, reaching out for her son, but Ino grinned wickedly and dumped him into the arms of a surprised Kakashi.

"Let the men give you a break for once." Ino waggled her fingers goodbye as she disappeared out of the tent, then popped her head back in to look at Kakashi. "I'll be back here before the end of dinner so we can get back to work, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Ino was gone. Kakashi glanced between the discarded towel and the baby's face, quickly growing more unhappy. Should he grab the towel?

Asuma screwed up his face, but before he could begin to cry, Kurenai had him, hushing him.

"It's not you," she said apologetically to Kakashi. "He's just gassy. You looked less terrified than most men, really. You'd make a good father."

Kurenai smiled, petting her son's tiny nose with a fingertip. "You should have seen Genma when Ino tried that trick on him. I wasn't sure who was going to piss his pants first."

"Asuma wouldn't have been like that," Kakashi said, staring at mother and baby, who were captivated only with each other.

With a chuckle, Kurenai looked up at Kakashi with a swish of her wild dark hair. "Are you kidding? He actually threw up when I told him I was pregnant. Right in my begonias."

Her laughter faded, old pain making the skin tight around her striking red eyes. "He would have come around, though. Eventually."

Smiling again, a little more forced, she tickled the baby's belly. "We're just fine over here. You eat your dinner, Kakashi. It's getting cold."

Hesitant, but unsure what else to do, Kakashi lifted his spoon.

* * *

The sun had long set when Kakashi finally stumbled into his tent, barely taking the time to register that Sakura was curled under his blankets, snoring away. Her snoring, too, was a new affliction. It had disturbed his rest the previous night and promised to do so again.

As Kakashi undressed to only his pants, bone weary, Sakura stirred, blanket falling to her naked waist as she blearily pawed through her balled clothing for something. She handed him what appeared to be a wadded up leaf, and Kakashi stared at it blankly as it unfurled to reveal an oozing spike of plant.

"It's aloe," Sakura said, unable to suppress a yawn. "I had Yamato-taichou find it for me this afternoon."

Sluggishly, Kakashi's brain tried to process this information and soundly rejected it.

"Aloe." Sakura enunciated clearly, as if she was explaining it to a small child. "You know, like aloe vera, what Naruto used to call Zetsu? For your sunburn."

"Oh." As his mind caught up to the situation, Kakashi obediently spread the ooze on the back of his neck. "Thanks."

Unable to muster a more appropriate expression of gratitude, Kakashi merely crawled onto the covers. Sakura snuggled up to him immediately, fitting herself into his sticky body despite the summer heat.

"You spend too much time at the memorial," she said into his collarbone, breath already beginning to tickle more evenly against him. "You ought to wear a hat. A wide brimmed, straw one, like the civilians wear. It would be cute, don't you think?"

"I'll probably be on a new assignment for a while anyway. With Ino."

"That's good," Sakura murmured sleepily. "Don't let her talk your ear off about weevils, though."

"I'll do my best."

Kakashi regretted any selfish wishes that she'd found her way to her own tent tonight, smiling when the first tiny snore _whuff_ed into his chest. He rubbed his hand along her belly, flat though it was. This was what fathers did, he supposed - they listened to hot-air warnings about weevils and cute hats and they put aloe on sunburns that didn't even hurt.

He tipped her chin up and pressed a slow kiss to her lips, taking the time to taste them. More than half asleep, she deepened it in a languid sort of way, not leading anywhere.

Then her eyes snapped open. "Don't you even think of putting it on tonight," she said, rolling over jerkily. "Or maybe you're just having a _mood swing."_

With a sigh, Kakashi flopped onto his back, not even bothering to explain that such an idea had been the last thing on his mind. Before too long, her snores were once again rending the air, but Kakashi found no quarter despite his weariness. He stayed awake for a long time yet, listening to the rhythmic saws and wondering what, exactly, he was cut out for.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Did you have fun while the bomb was being dropped? Because LolaLot and I had fun dropping it. Thanks, as always, to our readers and reviewers!


	8. Jack of Spades

With the new influx of civilians, the activity in the camp had intensified. It seemed that almost every step he took, Sasuke had to worm through a group of people or bypass someone carrying out one duty or another. Everyone had something to do, somewhere to go. Meanwhile, he simply wandered the camp until lunch was about to be served.

Standing before Chouji, Sasuke watched him pour a ladle of stew in a bowl for him. As he took the bowl back, Sasuke barely contained his smile when his nose caught a whiff of the food. Beef stew, made with the vegetables they had found out in the farms and some rice. As usual, Chouji's cooking smelled absolutely wonderful.

"Talk about a waste of rations."

Ignoring the frown that appeared on Chouji's face, Sasuke turned to see the man who had spoken. It was some bulky ninja he didn't know, sitting with three other men and grinning with them.

"You've never said anything truer," a red-head replied.

Raising an unimpressed eyebrow, Sasuke walked the few feet that separated him from the group that watched him warily.

"You want this?" Sasuke said quietly, raising his bowl.

All of them stood up, and the bulky man laughed. "Sure wouldn't mind."

Sasuke extended his arm to offer him the food, only to jerk it back when the other man tried to grab it.

"Take it then," he sneered. "If you think it's wasted on me."

"You're not worth the effort." Saying this, another guy shifted his weight to one foot, standing a good head taller than Sasuke. "Go away."

"I insist."

"Go the fuck away," another growled.

Sasuke chuckled.

"Pussies," he said, taking a sip of the stew's thick broth. "You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me."

For a moment, they remained silent, watching him through narrowed, angry eyes.

"Or maybe we would be, and so would Naruto-sama," the tall one finally grunted.

"If you so believe I killed him, then why don't you avenge him right here and now?" Sasuke spat, standing one step closer to the last one who had spoken. When he was met with nothing but stares and silence, Sasuke chuckled again. "Pussies," he repeated. "You're a joke."

When they didn't reply, Sasuke walked away, paying no mind to the hushed insults they threw at him behind his back.

* * *

By the time Sasuke had returned to where his team's tent was settled, his stew had grown cold. Even a small distance from the rest of the camp, he could still feel the leers that had become a continuous annoyance in his routine whenever he wasn't outside the village.

On the upside, a bite of the stew sufficed to take his attention away from those that were supposed to be his comrades, the ones he risked his life and worked so hard for. It really was no surprise, but Sasuke still found himself happily impressed by the quality of Chouji's cooking.

As he swallowed his mouthful, Juugo and Suigetsu approached and sat by him, forming a small triangle.

"Not even waiting for us," Suigetsu scowled. "I told you, Juugo, etiquette is lost on this guy. We could have eaten already," he said, waving his spoon at Juugo.

"It's the thought that counts," Juugo insisted as he sank his spoon in his bowl.

Chewing on a piece of beef, Sasuke narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. Although Juugo was always calm and discreet, he seemed more reserved today.

"Yeah, see if Sasuke cares," Suigetsu laughed as he brought his bowl to his lips. "He started eating before we got here, didn't he?"

"He did," Juugo said quietly, sipping the broth.

Sasuke breathed in deeply before he swallowed and sighed. "I'm sorry, Juugo. I'll wait for you next time."

Suigetsu coughed out his stew back into his bowl, looking at Sasuke, bewildered. "You're _apologizing_?"

"Sometimes," Sasuke replied, emphasizing the word, "I value your concern."

Suigetsu scoffed and shoved what seemed to be half of his bowl's contents in his mouth.

"I'm glad you think about us, Sasuke," Juugo said, offering his friend the bright smile only a huge, orange cuddly bear like him could.

Scrunching his nose slightly, Sasuke focused back on his meal.

When his bowl was empty, he placed it down on the grass before him. Suigetsu was long done and had sprawled out on the grass lazily, while Juugo was still eating, slow as ever.

"What did you see in the Infinite Tsukuyomi?"

The question seemed to baffle his two friends, but Sasuke sat as straight and still as before, watching them through the same bored eyes.

"See?" Suigetsu screeched, throwing his arms up. "Etiquette! He knows nothing of it!"

While he knew it was thoroughly insensitive to ask what a ninja had seen in a genjutsu, Sasuke cared little about the social misstep. So did Suigetsu, without a doubt, even though he put up a shocked facade.

"You don't give a fuck about etiquette," Sasuke pointed out, leaning his cheek in his palm as he stared at the other nin. "Stop clowning around."

Suigetsu scoffed again and crossed his arms over his chest moodily. "A sensitive soul like yours doesn't want to know what a sick, twisted and awesome one like mine sees as happiness."

"You dream of cuddling Sakura and having her call you Suigetsu-sama," Juugo teased, an unusual wolfish grin on his lips.

"Whaaaat?!" Suigetsu blurted out, arms now flailing at his side. "I think of no such thing! Dismembering her, though…Yeah, I can see that, her calling me Suigetsu-sama while I rip her pretty arms off with my bare hands."

"We both heard you muttering all that mushy stuff in your sleep," Sasuke cut in, ignoring the disturbing imagery that Suigetsu had planted in his mind along with his creepy giggling. "Drop the facade already. You're a sucker for the cute stuff."

"Am not!" Suigetsu snapped back, pointing at Sasuke accusingly. "You are! You're only projecting what _you_ feel onto me! You're the one who wants Sakura-chan all over you, moaning 'Sasuke-sama.'"

Sasuke grimaced slightly at the bothersome thoughts that Suigetsu once more created in his head. "I don't see Sakura that way."

"Don't you," Suigetsu teased, leaning towards him and batting his eyelashes. "Just think of her doing all that sweet stuff to your dick."

"You're the one projecting your fantasies onto me," Sasuke chuckled, shaking his head.

"I agree with him," Juugo said, a pastel blush on his cheeks. "I'm sure Sasuke means it when he says he doesn't think of his friend in such a way."

"Pffft, you're the spoiling the fun," Suigetsu sighed as he plopped back down on the grass.

"I dreamed I was back in my village," Juugo let out, staring down into his empty bowl. "I could control myself and everyone loved me again."

Sasuke let his answer simmer in his mind for a minute before he answered. "That's it? Nothing more?"

Juugo only nodded.

"You weren't caught in it at all?" Suigetsu asked, propping himself on his forearms. "Not even a second?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"It's almost a shame," Juugo replied softly. "It was nice to be happy, even for just a little while."

Sasuke remained silent, avoiding both of his friend's gazes.

* * *

When Sasuke walked back into the camp to return their dirty bowls, the leers and hushed gossips followed him as usual. More than a month away from it had almost made him forget how annoying people in Konoha could be. Even the Rock civilians had been docile all the way home.

"He doesn't even work for his rations," he heard someone complain. "Just goes out on lazy walks, calling them missions."

Loudly, Sasuke dropped the bowls among the other dirty ones, causing enough noise to interrupt their conversation.

Satisfied with the two men's startled looks, Sasuke left, smiling smugly to himself until he reached the Hokage's tent, where Hyuuga Ko blocked his path.

"What business do you have with the Hokage?"

"I haven't been appointed any missions," Sasuke answered. They'd been back in Konoha a few days already and he was growing bored of the idleness. "Or any tasks."

"Someone will inform you when one has been assigned to you."

"Let him in," Tsunade sighed from inside.

As ordered, Ko let him pass, though not without throwing him a dirty look.

"What do you want?" Tsunade growled, head cradled over her arms on her desk. "I was taking a nap."

"I don't have any work to do."

Tsunade expelled an exasperated breath as she sat up straight. "You're a bright boy. I don't need to tell you why."

Sasuke nodded, placing his hands on his hips as he narrowed his eyes. "Either way, they're complaining that I am freeloading."

"Ignore them," she said, running a frail hand through her hair. "There's nothing I can do about it and having you work out there with them would only make it worse."

"Then give me another mission."

Tsunade met his eyes again, sighing. Still, Sasuke didn't budge, needing something to busy himself with if he didn't want to feel like a caged animal.

"I've got nothing for the time being," Tsunade answered dodgily. "We've got our hands full with these thieves we haven't been able to catch yet." Before he could open his mouth to protest, she frowned and shook her head. "I'm not letting you out of the village by yourself. They'd blame you."

Scoffing, Sasuke turned on his heel and exited the tent.

* * *

Outside of the village, even just on the edge of its new border, the air already felt lighter, fresher, to Sasuke as he inhaled it. Sitting in the forest, hidden from nosy villagers who couldn't mind their own business, he felt at peace.

There was a lulling soothing to be found when surrounded with nothing but wood, leaves and grass. Perhaps being born a citizen of the Hidden Leaf had passed the trait to him. He was certain that Sakura and Kakashi felt it as well, whenever they needed their privacy.

Whether that meant alone or together. Sasuke chuckled, unable to stop the grin from twisting his lips. If that wasn't an unexpected turn of events.

As much as he didn't want to dwell on it, the knowledge of their secret meetings planted the seed of curiosity in him. While he could ask Suigetsu and Juugo about their dreams in the Infinite Tsukuyomi carelessly, demanding to know what Sakura or Kakashi had seen - or done - was out of the question.

At the sound of rustling leaves, Sasuke's head whipped around. "Who's there?"

"It's just me," Hinata said as she appeared from behind a tree. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hide."

"What do you want?"

Hinata brought her fingers to her mouth, fidgeting in silence for a moment.

"If you're not gonna talk, leave."

He came here for peace and quiet, not to watch her fiddle and choke on her words.

"S-Sorry," Hinata blurted out as she stepped forward and kneeled down before him, sitting on her heels. "I saw you earlier today. I saw them tell you that you were a waste of rations."

"What about it?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes, leaning back against a tree while he raised one leg and rested his arm on his knee.

"It was mean of them."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, blank eyes simply staring at Hinata, who squirmed under his gaze.

"I mean," she whispered, fingers gripping the fabric of her pants. "They shouldn't have done that."

"What do you want, exactly?" Sasuke asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Seeing the girl deflate under his words, he almost felt guilty.

"You saved them," Hinata finally said. "They should be thankful. You deserve better."

Sasuke frowned, taking another look at Hinata. Both her hands were still on her knees, buried in the material of her pants, but her eyes met his head on, without any doubt.

"You don't believe I killed Naruto, then."

"Naruto-kun trusted you." Hinata shook her head quickly and her lips stretched in a small, awkward smile. "So I will too."

"What if I had? Killed him?"

Under his hardened eyes, she squirmed again, even avoiding looking at him entirely for a few seconds. Sasuke chuckled silently, unable to stop a lopsided grin from growing on his lips.

"You didn't."

Almost defiantly, her eyes locked with his again. Even when Sasuke frowned and scowled, she didn't budge.

"Is that what you came for then?" Sasuke chuckled. "Cheer me up and tell me bullies are mean?"

"You can put it that way, I guess," Hinata giggled.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, running a hand through his hair, annoyed by all the knots he found. "Go away already."

"O-Okay."

And so easily, she stood up and left as he watched her back disappear between the trees.

* * *

A flash of pink caught Sasuke's attention as he walked through the camp, where he expected her to be around this time. Just as he had thought, she stood close to one of the medical tents, waiting for Kakashi who seemed to be running late, unsurprisingly.

"Sakura."

Immediately, she whirled around, hair flying around and hiding part of her face, but not enough for him to miss her cheerful expression change to disappointment.

"Sasuke-kun," she greeted, forcing a smile. "It's nice to see you."

"Are you waiting for Kakashi?" he asked, standing by her between a few tents that gave them some privacy. "He's late, isn't he?"

"Only a few minutes if he gets here soon," Sakura blurted out, flinching briefly. "I'm sure it won't be long."

"I see."

Not willing to say a word more, Sasuke stood rigidly as he watched her. As soon as she had recognized him, her shoulders had tensed and she had looked as if she might flee, but her stance now relaxed considerably.

"I was really scared Ino would figure out something was up yesterday," Sakura whispered, a lopsided grin brightening her face in a cute manner. "You were really convincing."

"You have told him, haven't you?" Sasuke asked, frowning slightly. "You aren't waiting until after the exam?"

Sakura nodded quickly and Sasuke breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I thought for sure Kakashi would say it was shochu that made us sick that time," Sakura said quickly, concealing her anxiety with a cheerful laugh and exuberant smile. Sasuke's cheek twitched in slight annoyance but he listened nonetheless. "Thanks for covering for me. Ino can be kind of relentless."

"I told you he doesn't know everything," Sasuke replied, laying a hand on her shoulder. Under his fingers, he could feel a small amount of tension gather. "Did you decide?"

Her smile faded. "I - He said he was coming today. I think it's for the best."

"Coming to what, a doctor's appointment? It's going to be a lot more complicated than that. But you can't go back."

"I don't want to hide, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "I don't see the point. It would come out in the end anyway, you know. The baby won't have Sharingan."

Sasuke shifted, letting his hand fall back to his side. "Is it really going to get that far? You might find more opposition than you think, in the short-term."

As much as he was glad he wouldn't have to play daddy and endure Suigetsu's constant nagging, uneasiness still shrouded most of his thoughts. Certainly, Sakura didn't realize just yet what she was getting herself into, didn't realize that she was actually pregnant.

"In the short-term…" Sakura's mouth twisted into a thoughtful little moue. "I don't think that changes what the right thing is, just because something is easier for now."

With a nonchalant raise of his shoulders, Sasuke grunted, ignoring the underlying mention of his past choices. "As long as you stop crying."

"I wonder how many people know you can be sweet like this, Sas -" She cut off mid-word, mouth twitching into a smile. "Kakashi!"

Sasuke's lips pursed when he heard his ex-sensei's name. Seemingly forgetting all about him and their conversation, Sakura skipped away to go meet Kakashi. Sasuke decided to hold his tongue for Sakura's sake, though he felt no guilt for glaring openly at the other man.

There was an exchange of words he didn't quite catch, too absorbed in his own thoughts to pay any attention to anything else but the way Kakashi's arm wrapped around her so casually.

"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun," she called over her shoulder. "I won't tell anyone your secret. See you later."

Sasuke's gaze focused back on Sakura, taking a moment too long. She had already turned around, following Kakashi's lead.

"Be careful, Sakura."

It was easy to tell she was too taken by Kakashi's presence to hear his warning. Sasuke sighed in exasperation and shook his head. As long as Kakashi didn't make her cry, he wouldn't have too many skulls to bash in, Sasuke tried to convince himself, chuckling quietly.

* * *

"I can't believe our reserves of grain have been contaminated…"

Sasuke halted his walk as the hushed voices reached his ears. Glancing around him at the bustling crowd, a cocky grin spread on his lips. If there was one advantage that infamy had given him, it was the gift of anonymity. No one cared about him, and thus acted as if he was invisible if they had no empty insults to throw at him.

"On top of that, those thieves have been taking more and more," another person said. Sasuke walked quietly between two tents, managing a peek inside the one from where the voices originated. Two Hyuuga he didn't know the names of were speaking. "They even stole a cow last night."

"We'll have to tighten the rations, won't we?" the first complained, huffing. "Even with all the patrols Hinata-sama has been ordering, we haven't found a trace of them."

The frown on Sasuke's face deepened, wondering if this would affect Sakura's diet at all.

"Hiashi has been talking about building a wall. The earth chakra users could do it rather easily."

"Yeah, but would that really help?" the other sneered. "Can we really keep farms inside the walls? With the survivors that came from Rock and Waterfall, we're already over three thousand. They'll just keep kidnapping the civilians all they want."

"I bet Hiashi will do something about that when he becomes Hokage." Sasuke twisted his neck a little more, pressing one of his ears to the tent. "I overheard Tsunade said she would name her successor soon."

"More than time. She's just an old hag now," one laughed. Sasuke scowled, remaining still and resisting the urge to barge in. "Hiashi is what Konoha really needs now."

"It shouldn't be long."

The sound of hurried footsteps distracted Sasuke from the conversation. Stepping out of his hiding place, he watched two people run towards the medical tents. There was no more to learn from the two idiots back there.

"The baby they brought back from Mist is having difficulty breathing!" the older medic said to his junior, dragging her by the hand. "We need your help right now!"

Lazily, Sasuke followed them, shoving his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. Tracking them down was a simple task with the ruckus they made.

By the time he stood in front of the tent they had scurried in, they had fallen silent. A glance between the flaps of the opening was more than he needed to locate the baby, still and lifeless on the makeshift examining table.

* * *

Finding Kakashi had been relatively easy. Even the apocalypse wasn't enough to change an old man's habits, it seemed. Sasuke had found him by the Memorial Stone again, apparently carving in new names.

"Kakashi."

"Yes, Sasuke?"

The annoyance in Kakashi's voice brought a grin to Sasuke's lips. Ticking him off had never been so easy back in the day. "How did Sakura's exam go?"

"You already know the answer to that, don't you?" Kakashi replied, not sparing him a glance while he continued his work.

"It's not my fault you don't know everything," Sasuke tried to remain as casual as possible, stopping at Kakashi's side where he could clearly see him writing Ebisu's name. "In all seriousness though, it's not my fault I guessed before you did."

"What did you see that I didn't?"

Kakashi's tone had softened somewhat and his hand stilled on the last syllable he was digging into the stone.

Sasuke shifted his weight on one foot, laying a hand on his hip while the other hung at his side. "I saw her throw up, lose control over her chakra. Heard her whimper when her breasts bumped on me too hard."

At the mention of the last clue, the chakra encasing Kakashi's finger spluttered out. Kakashi turned his head slowly so he could look Sasuke dead in the eye, his expression turning a few shades darker instantly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Did you think she was all yours?"

Kakashi said nothing, coal eyes smoldering.

"Stop taking everything so seriously. It was when I was carrying her back in the mountain," Sasuke sighed. "Then I found her crying by herself out in the woods. It was pretty obvious at that point."

"I thought she was just exhausted," Kakashi said, letting his hand slide to the ground before he stood up and dusted himself off.

"It was easy to miss. You had other things on your mind, with all those civilians."

"What did you come here for, then?" Kakashi replied quickly, thrusting his hands in his pockets.

"Just wondering what it meant to you, going to that doctor's appointment."

Because to Sakura it had probably meant the world, though Sasuke didn't say that aloud.

It wasn't hard to see the tension building up in Kakashi's muscles, even without a keen sense of observation. Still, Kakashi's gaze locked with Sasuke's, reverting to its famous aloofness. "What does it have to do with you either way?"

Sasuke eyed Kakashi for a second, trying to gather any hints from his demeanor, but there was little to be found when Kakashi was being so stoic. Or perhaps he had just been away too long.

"I intend to become a part of Sakura's life again," Sasuke started, forcing the muscles in his back to loosen when they wanted to stiffen. "It would be preferable if you didn't go planting false hopes in her head."

"I would never do such a thing to Sakura."

The accusation in Kakashi's voice couldn't be clearer. If it wasn't enough, the challenge flashing in Kakashi's quiet eyes gave away the answer that Sasuke had come looking for. Although Sasuke could have done without the personal vendetta, he was satisfied.

"I'm not a threat to Sakura, or you," Sasuke said, mustering his most inoffensive voice, which wasn't very successful. Slowly, he held out his hand for Kakashi. "Sensei."

There was a moment of heavy silence before Kakashi's hand closed around Sasuke's.

"It's good to have you back, Sasuke."

"Same to you."

Sasuke pulled his hand away and shoved it in his pocket. "I offered to Sakura to be the official father."

"So I've heard," Kakashi answered, any camaraderie dissipating instantly.

"She declined," Sasuke said, "so you'll be the father either way."

"I wouldn't have let it be any other way."

Sasuke nodded. "Then everything will be just dandy."

Without another word, he turned around and walked back towards the village. The news of the baby's death could wait.

* * *

"Hello?"

Even though he had barely ever heard it, Sasuke could recognize that mousy voice anywhere.

"Hello," Juugo greeted back, surely with a sweet smile.

"I-I was told that Sasuke's tent was around here..."

"I'm not giving you the answer unless you tell me your name, you sweet thing," Suigetsu demanded, his flirty voice as terrible as ever.

Hidden from view inside the tent he was supposed to be napping in, Sasuke was in no hurry to come to Hinata's aid, instead preferring to lounge in his sleeping bag like a lazy cat.

"Um... It's Hinata."

Sasuke could see what she looked like perfectly in the back of his mind, certainly shrunken into herself with stiff fingers covering her quivering lips.

"That's a really cute name, you know," Suigetsu cooed, while Juugo sighed loudly.

Hinata hesitated. "I just want to know if S-Sasuke is here."

"Why is it always Sasuke this, Sasuke that with you girls?" Suigetsu grunted, prompting Sasuke to get up and open the tent.

"You're looking for me?"

Hinata nodded, obstinately avoiding Suigetsu's upset eyes. "Y-Yes."

Sasuke waited a moment for her to continue, but she remained mute as a mouse. "What for?"

"If you haven't eaten already, I thought we could have dinner together," she asked, a pale blush coloring her snowy cheeks, looking every bit the picture Sasuke had imagined of her mere seconds ago.

If anything, he was curious to know how the Hyuuga heiress dined these days. "I haven't eaten yet."

A bright smile curved Hinata's lips, giving away only a hint of the beauty locked away behind her underwhelming blushes and fidgety fingers. "Follow me then."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Hinata had led Sasuke to the Nara estate. As soon as they had entered, a young girl came to greet them. Although Hinata didn't miss the uncertain gaze that the maid had thrown him, she ignored it.

"I will serve Hinata-sama's dinner in a few minutes," the girl said, bowing a full ninety degrees.

The maid was a Hyuuga as well. Few other people would accept such a lowly position in the current situation. In order to remain polite to his host, Sasuke bit back a chuckle.

"Please bring a plate for my guest as well, Misa-chan."

Misa nodded quickly before she scurried off.

As promised, Sasuke had a hot meal before him within fifteen minutes. While it wasn't as fancy as he'd hoped, the portions were significantly larger than those served in the camp's kitchen.

All too aware of the attention Sasuke was paying to the food, Hinata lowered her head, digging her fingers into the material of her pants around her knees. "I-I never asked to be treated better than the others. My clan manages its resources on its own, and the lower members of the family..." Hinata trailed off, eyes lost into her thoughts for a moment. "I wish they would stop this nonsense."

Had the Uchiha clan been in the Hyuuga's place, would it have been any different? Sasuke didn't know the answer to that question, nor did he want to.

"Why did you invite me here?"

The corner of Hinata's mouth twitched discreetly while her fingers wrapped around her bowl of rice. "I wanted to spend time with you so I could understand why you were so important to Naruto-kun. So I could know his friends better."

Sasuke grunted, picking up his bowl of beef stew. "Why not invite Sakura or Kakashi, then? They've been closer to him."

Hinata nodded slowly. "Y-Yes, but they're not the same."

"You ought to stop stuttering so much," Sasuke sighed in annoyance before he took his first sip of the broth. "Why am I so different in your opinion?"

Again, Hinata's cheeks lit up and she touched the fingers of her left hand to her lips. "I already know them a little better than you, but, most of all, they don't need me like you do."

As if in proportion to Sasuke's narrowing eyes, Hinata curled into herself, appearing a lot smaller and much like the child he remembered.

"You have few people on your side, Sasuke," Hinata blurted out quickly, tightening her fingers around her bowl. "As much as I loathe taking advantage of my status, I believe I could help you with such matters."

"Don't come crying to me when they call you crazy," Sasuke chuckled between two bites.

Hinata's stiff stance relaxed, and she finally allowed herself a mouthful of rice. "I-I would rather be called crazy than stay silent in front of injustice again."

Sasuke only grunted in response.

"It's very unusual for me to be the talkative one," Hinata giggled after a silent pause, setting down her still half full bowl of rice.

Sasuke did the same with his stew, starting on his rice instead. "Is that a nice change?"

Hinata gave a light shrug, taking the time to swallow her food. "I guess it's something I could get used to."

"You haven't stuttered in a few sentences already," Sasuke noted, letting a smirk stretch his lips. "From what I remember of you, that's quite a feat."

Immediately, Hinata's cheeks flushed darker than he'd seen them the whole evening.

"I-I really..." Her hands came up to cover her mouth, only highlighting the way she squinted her eyes in concentration. "I try h-hard to not stutter a-anymore... But sometimes I j-just can't help it."

Sasuke only grinned larger, though he held back his laughter.

Hinata sighed, making it a point to avoid his gaze. As if to distract herself, she shoved a large amount of the stew down her throat. Enough for Sasuke to start worrying over a possible choking risk. The last thing he needed was a dead Hyuuga heiress who had spent her last living moments with him.

Glancing down at his bowl, Sasuke noticed he had already wolfed down more than half his food as well, having lost his focus a moment too long. Silently, he cursed himself as he replaced the bowl on the table, still feeling the gnawing of hunger nipping at his stomach.

"You're…" Hinata placed the tips of her fingers on the wood of the table, eyeing his leftover food. The quantity more or less matched what was still filling her own bowls. "Y-You're not eating the rest either, are you?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'll be bringing it back. Don't be offended."

Far from offended, Hinata flashed him another of those overwhelming smiles he'd discovered earlier. "No, I understand entirely. There are many more needy than us."

No reply came from Sasuke. Instead, he inspected the room. If it wasn't for the knowledge that this had been built long before the war, his bitterness would have been much stronger. How the Hyuuga had managed to snake their way into this place, he didn't know. It wasn't right.

"I think I know now why Naruto-kun held Sasuke-kun so close to his heart."

His attention returned to Hinata, along with his gaze. Right away, Sasuke could see the tightness surrounding her white eyes, the quivering lips, the way she gripped her pants. He knew what was coming. As if on cue, tears welled up in the corner of her eyes when they slid shut, creating a sharp contrast with the pretty smile that still curved her lips.

Jaw clenched, Sasuke remained silent.

"Naruto-kun loved you, because…" Hinata choked back a sob, bringing a small hand to her chest. "He loved you because you're not afraid to point out people's flaws."

Sasuke only raised an eyebrow, hardly understanding how that was such an endearing quality.

"I remember how you always made fun of him, told him how bad he was everything." More tears streaked down her cheeks, coming faster and faster it seemed. "You didn't make him believe he was good when he was not. You made him want to become better, better than everyone just so he could prove you wrong."

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke stood up. As he picked up his bowl of rice, his heart raced, pounding into his ears and drowning out whatever Hinata was trying to tell him. When he took the stew, his trembling fingers only knocked it over.

"Damn it!"

Food couldn't be wasted now.

"S-Sasuke-kun," Hinata called, shoving her own leftover stew into his hands. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to upset you!"

Sasuke inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a second. "You didn't do anything. See you later."

"Um… Okay," she breathed out, scurrying to open the door. "H-Have a good evening."

Gripping the still half full bowls, Sasuke hurried outside. At least Sakura could have a decent meal if she didn't slip it to someone else while he wasn't looking.

* * *

"Sasuke!"

_Nn. Sleep. _

"Sasuke!"

Naruto? Sasuke forced his eyes open, ignoring how heavy they felt.

"Naruto?"

Glancing down, most of his view was blocked by Naruto's sunny hair. Only now did it register that most of his friend's weight was resting on him, with Naruto's head limp on his shoulder.

Sasuke's hands were already on Naruto's chest, pushing him up to make him stand.

Blood, there was so much blood. Too much. "Naruto!"

Naruto's hand grabbed at Sasuke's wrist, weakening with every breath he took. "Why?"

When he lowered his eyes to his hand, Sasuke's eyes widened. His fist was buried in Naruto's flesh, the sound of Chidori filling the air.

"We were supposed to go back together, Sasuke."

If Sasuke had anything to say, the words were lost in his throat.

"I guess it's my fault for thinking I would be able to bring you back, huh?" Naruto said, raising his head enough for Sasuke to see his radiant smile, the blood dripping from his mouth. "I should have known I could never change you."

When Sasuke didn't answer, Naruto lowered his head, his eyes slowly losing their light. "Not even a word, hm? Why don't you try and be happy, now that I'm out of your way? Maybe you can do that for me?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, plunging his word into darkness and silence.

"Wake up!"

Why?

"Sasuke, wake up!"

Why was Suigetsu calling him? Wasn't he in a cocoon, somewhere not far from him, where he'd left his team on the battlefield?

Sasuke forced his eyes open once more, needing a moment to understand that he wasn't on the battlefield, but his tent, with Juugo and Suigetsu, who was shaking his shoulders. Heart still racing, Sasuke brought his hands up to look at them, letting out a hoarse, ragged cry when he saw the blood still coating them.

"Snap out of it, man!"

Hands trembling, Sasuke lunged at whoever spoke to him. Pinning him down with his own weight, Sasuke wrapped his fingers around his throat and punched, letting loose an enraged scream.

"Sasuke, what are you doing!"

When he was restrained from behind, Sasuke struggled with all his might, like a wild animal caught in a hunter's trap.

"Sasuke!"

Sakura. She shouldn't be here.

Still, her palms cupped his cheeks, her anxious breath fanning on them.

"Sakura." Calmed, Sasuke repeated her gesture, lost in the sensation her soft skin and hair left on his fingertips. "You shouldn't be here."

"Sasuke, what are you talking about?" Sakura whispered, sounding like she was begging him for something he couldn't understand. "Look at me."

Sasuke blinked, heart no longer beating beyond its capacity.

Suigetsu was laying next to him, cursing loudly as he spat blood. Juugo, behind him, was trapping Sasuke against his body.

In front of him, Sakura was watching him, eyes shimmering with panic.

Sasuke closed his eyes, going limp in Juugo's hold. "I'm sorry."

Glancing at his hands, still tangled in Sakura's hair, Sasuke could see that there was not a drop of blood on them.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Warning: Long chapters ahead. Amrun has an illness.


End file.
